Deepwater Horizon – movie review

On April 20th, 2010, one of the world’s largest man-made disasters occurred on the Deepwater Horizon, an ultra deep-water drilling rig off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. This is the story of some of the 126 crew members working aboard the Deepwater Horizon that day, caught in the most harrowing circumstances.

Mark Wahlberg takes on the role of real-life Transocean chief electronics technician Mike Williams. He is a devoted family man (his loving wife is played by Kate Hudson) who was overseeing the rig’s computers and electrical systems on April 20th. That was when everything he imagined could go wrong did.

Oil rig workers are a notoriously tough and gritty breed. The work is physically punishing and ultra high-pressure as they grapple with complex equipment some 20 metres above remote seas. Yet even for Williams what happened that day was unprecedented. Williams knew the work was desperately behind schedule, but he was also aware the Deepwater Horizon had sophisticated defences said to be able to prevent even the worst blowouts. Nevertheless at 10 that night volatile methane shot up into the rig and all the defenses failed. The result was a sudden, deadly explosion and a series of fireballs, as the shattered rig and its crew were shaken, hurtled and drenched in combustible gas. From that moment on Williams was in a race to save not only his own skin but the lives of his crewmates.

As important as Williams was to the story, which centres around him, so too was “Mr Jimmy”. Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell) was the offshore installation manager of the Deepwater Horizon – essentially he was in charge of the entire crew.

BP is painted as the villain in the piece; in particular their Louisiana-based manager Donald Vidrine, who, too, is caught up in the mayhem. John Malkovich plays him as an egotistical know-it-all, to whom the audience takes an instant dislike.

The foundation for the screenplay by Matthew Carnahan and Matthew Sand was a seminal New York Times article, “Deepwater Horizon’s Final Hours”, written by David Barstow, David Rohde and Stephanie Saul. That piece was the result of probing interviews with 21 survivors, as well as sworn testimony and written statements from others, which gave the authors a detailed insiders’ account of what happened.

The tension in the movie leading up to the explosion and fire is palpable. It works away at our psyche, grinding away at us … and then “boom”. It all goes pear-shaped. Unfortunately, notwithstanding that fact, the technical language used is a real drag. To me it almost felt like I was watching a foreign language documentary about a subject I couldn’t care less about. It made my eyes glaze over and I “tuned out”. I didn’t doubt the accuracy of what I was hearing, but I simply wasn’t all that involved or interested. Mind you, the back stories and the interplay between workers are well executed and involving.

Wahlberg is strong as the heroic centrepiece, as is Russell in his selfless portrayal of the rig leader. I couldn’t imagine a better actor than Malkovich assuming the BP manager’s position. He is slimy and supercilious and then some. Once Armageddon has come, the panic and frenzy are well captured. And then later, of particular note is Williams’ “return to civilisation”, distressed and disorientated. Upon his reunion with his family, I had tears streaming down my face.

So Deepwater Horizon is a mixed bag, at times absorbing and at others repelling. Rated M, it scores a 6½ out of 10.

Director: Peter Berg
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Gina Rodriguez, John Malkovich, Kate Hudson, Kurt Russell
Release Date: 6 October 2016
Rating: M

Alex First