7/10/2000
The Perfect Storm stars George Clooney as Captain Billy Tyne, Mark Wahlberg as Bobby Shatford, John C. Reilly as Dale "Murph" Murphy, Diane Lane as Christina Cotter, William Fichtner as David "Sully" Sullivan, John Hawkes as Mike "Bugsy" Moran, Allen Payne as Alfred Pierre, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Linda Greenlaw, Karen Allen as Melissa Brown, Cherry Jones as Edie Bailey, Bob Gunton as Alexander McAnally III, Christopher McDonald as Todd Gross, Dash Mihok as Sgt. Jeremy Mitchell, Josh Hopkins as Capt. Darryl Ennis, Michael Ironside as Bob Brown.
The Perfect Storm is a film that has as its main star, a storm, a perfect storm. The film is a well made and well acted portrayal of the hard lives of Gloucester fisherman. The film concentrates on a 1991 incident of one swordfish boat the Andrea Gail.
Captain Billy Tyne comes up short on his last trip. He then wants to get one more trip in before winter. The other captains are doing much better and stay in harbor. Captain Billy Tyne ventures farther out to sea, to find the big fish. He finds the catch that he and the crew were looking for. Now he must make it back to claim his prize. However, the mother of all storms forms between his boat and the harbor. We are given a view of the extreme conditions that exist during hurricanes. There is very little character development, but the story is the storm and the men that fight it, not the lives of the Gloucestermen.
The Perfect Storm is a great example of using special effects to help tell a story. There are very gripping and intense scenes in this film. Bring your Dramamine!
I give it 3 out of 5 birdies: