Aug 27, 2001 12:39 PM
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There are some perks to living half the year in California, one main one being that you can see movies before anyone back over there in Blighty. So here from California is a review, before you go see it after June 1st.
Pearl Harbor (note the lack of a 'u') is almost as eagerly awaited as Titanic. The lavish premiere party took place on board a US Navy Flagship, borrowed for the evening, but as with all big films with a capital B, there are plenty of critics around to sink it. Personally, I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoyed James Cameron's epic...quite a lot, but not ecstatically so.
The plot of the film revolves not around the attack at all, which only actually appears during the last bit of the film. You have to watch 80 minutes of fairly inconsequential and boring stuff before you get to feed some eye-candy to your now numbed brain. Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer always produce cracking action if nothing else. The cinematic tension is also wonderful, and in fact, the level of patriotism is quite bearable. The main problem with Pearl Harbor is the lead characters. Whereas in Titanic, I came out giving half a damn about Rose, in Pearl Harbor I couldn't have really given a monkey's about Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett). Cuba Gooding Jr puts in the finest performance of his career though, clearly relishing his lines more than anyone else. Alec Baldwin is good too as the Colonel in charge. Jon Voight's Roosevelt is curiously compelling too...so the supporting cast is thoroughly fine.
The plot runs along the lines of this - two childhood friends dream of being fighter pilots, and you guessed it, they join the air force (wave a flag, someone...). Rafe falls in love with a girl he meets, a nurse by the name of Evelyn, but alas his plane goes down and they think he is dead. And yes, Danny and Evelyn get together. And yes, Rafe isn't dead at all....you've guessed it...
This plot is a direct lift from numerous other movies, consequently not covering any real new emotional ground...go buy a video of Les Parapluies de Cherbourg and you'll see what I mean. Not that it matters, because nobody in the cinema I was in really seemed to give a toss. They cheered when the Japanese planes arrived! Seriously!
The lack of emotion lets the film down a lot. Especially when Rafe's plane goes down...nobody seems to really care very much, especially life long friend Danny. Also, the authenticity is highly questionable...have a look at the planes for example, and see what you think.
What was good about the film? The action, which merits a three star review alone. You'll be waiting for it though! Whereas in Saving Private Ryan the action was thick and fast to start with, and consequently you gave a toss about the characters and their feelings, because you identified vividly with what they had been through. In Titanic, the boat sank at the end, but the characters held you through until then, so you still gave a damn about them, and that made the ending something quite moving. Pearl Harbor has found an unhappy medium between the two strategies!
The film runs three hours, and the action is only hot in the last segment. The rest is really rather hollow, characterless, that will delight the eye but not the mind. Having said that, it is a must-see. Come on, who's not going to, after the hype?
