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DOWN IN FRONT: K-19: The Widowmaker
| DAN’S GRADE: C+ A: MUST SEE B: WORTH WATCHING C: RENT IT D: POOR F: WICKED BAD |
Given its cheery title, it’s not surprising that “K-19: The Widowmaker” really stressed me out.
Harrison Ford (Cpt. Alexi Vostrikov) plays the commander of a Soviet nuclear submarine so shoddy it seems to be held together with bubble gum and rubber bands. I sat for hours clawing at the arm rest, praying that the end would come soon, but the movie dragged on and on, getting worse and worse.
The year is 1961 and the Soviets are in such a rush to show the United States how tough they are that they send the submarine out on a mission while ignoring the warning signs and glitches it is already showing in dry dock.
Predictably, once the Russian sailors are too far out to get help if they need it, certain extremely important mechanisms on the submarine start to go haywire. As is the case in any nuclear submarine movie, not only does the fate of the crew hang in the balance, but of the entire world, as the threat of a nuclear war casts a shadow of dread over the whole story.
The problem is that this movie just isn’t any fun to watch. The slow, wrenching deterioration of the submarine and the deaths of its crew members is horrible, especially since you know this is based on a true story.
In addition, the movie asks the audience to sympathize with the cold war Soviet Union in its attempt to put a nuclear submarine a few miles off the U.S. east coast within range of Washington D.C. and New York City. While I do sympathize as a human being with the crew members who are suffering, I am 100 percent opposed to Russian nuclear submarines off our coastline.
Harrison Ford gives an excellent performance as a captain who sees the young men on his vessel as his own sons and then has make decisions that might kill them. His face quivers with emotion so powerful you cannot believe that he is just a Hollywood actor. Liam Neeson’s performance as the second in command, Capt. Mikhail Polenin, is also strong.
The movie is well made, but the story is too depressing. It’s summer. Can’t we lighten up?