Deepwater Horizon [Review by Haus]

When the Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up on April 20 2010, it triggered the largest accidental oil spill in the history of the whole wide world. Eleven workers died on the rig; 17 others were injured. In the wake of the disaster, oil company BP was widely vilified.

Peter Berg (who I must forever know for his role as Dr. Kronk on Chicago Hope, but who’s in the past two decades become an accomplished director (ignoring Battleship), shameless self-cameoer, and producer of Ballers, inter alia) has made a movie about this, plainly named Deepwater Horizon.

It stars Mark Wahlberg, and it’s nicely done.

If that seems terse, it’s because it’s really, in a sense, all you need to know. This film holds few surprises in plot terms (like Sully, everyone knows how the story ends) and we’re all just here to get an inside look at what actually happened. If you’d like that, then see it.

It’s actually quite informative, too. I tend to be the one at the table who knows the most arcane technical stuff — be it scientific, military, or mechanical — but even I was drawing a blank when it comes to the daily in and outs of oil rig operation. I expect I’m not the only one, and so to make heads or tails of how dire the circumstances really are, some general exposition is in order. This is dealt with using every plot device imaginable — from rehearsing a child’s presentation on what daddy does, to the old “c’mon, wake up man, we both know….” Now, normally this would all be too much, but it’s downright necessary here so Berg gets a pass. Please, just tell us what’s going on.

He does, and we learn that the Deepwater Horizon rig is a sort of prospecting setup, identifying promising wells, tapping them, and installing the hardware for later rigs to use. Something’s not quite right with the “well from hell” they’re working on, and things go south because corporations are bad and cut corners and endanger honest working men. (It would play a tad pithy if it weren’t, in this instance, pretty much exactly what happened.)

Wahlberg does well here. His character isn’t actually tasked with too much besides charging around looking for people and trying to stave off the inevitable, but he’s a watchable guy and readily carries the story along. An eerie John Malkovich with a curious accent creeps on everyone and does a decent job turning the audience against BP on demeanor alone; and Kurt Russell is truly solid in his role as the no-nonsense rig boss. I loved Gina Rodriguez as a sort of rig-helmsman — very believable. But where Deepwater Horizon really shines is in the strength of its large supporting cast of workers.  Largely unknowns (at least to me), they set the tone through snatches of dialogue and background action, really giving the sets a lived-in feel.

Berg does his level best to distinguish the rig’s everyman crew from the BP overlords who hired them and ultimately pressed the disaster button. (The film teeters on the edge of a little too much down-home proletariat authenticity here, but Berg keeps it on the rails.) As was the case in Sully, Wahlberg’s family backstory plays second fiddle. Kate Hudson is believable and squints appropriately and bites her lip nicely but she doesn’t get much screen time and we know nothing else about her. The other players have only vague hints of families (and none, of course, exist for the company men).

When disaster does come it comes hard and for an awfully long time. Act two plays like a Michael Bay masterclass in stuff’s gonna ‘splode, with pretty much nonstop calamity becoming almost rote backdrop after a while. It’s also (unsurprisingly) difficult to tell who’s who as they charge around covered in oil and mud and debris, but rest assured Berg ensures the key plot points are hit. Hardly a spoiler: Are things bad? Things seem bad. Things are bad! Oh, no, things got worse!

Aside: It does seem fortunate indeed that a support boat was idling near the rig when all this happened, or (to my eyes at least) no one would have made it off.

Between Sully and Deepwater Horizon, we’re two for two on good dramatic reenactments this fall. And as we wait for the next real-life movification from the WahlBerg duo — 2017’s Patriots Day, about the Boston Marathon bombing — at least we know Deepwater Horizon is big budget, well made, tense, and informative.

Haus Verdict: A compelling film that does a nice job honoring the human cost of the disaster while still spinning equal parts faux-doc, thriller, and high-dollar action effects. 

Deepwater Horizon opens today, Friday September 30.

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