K-19: The Widowmaker Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)July 17th, 2002
K-19 THE WIDOWMAKER (2002) 2 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard, Christian Camargo, Sam Spruell, Roman Podhora and Sam Redford. Story by Louis Nowra. Screenplay by Christian Kyle. Music by Klaus Badelt. Produced and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. PG-13. Running time: 138 minutes.
Ill winds do not bode well for K-19 The Widowmaker during this seafaring drama’s first couple of reels, but don’t abandon ship. As the film progresses, the seas calm and the sailing becomes smoother.
The movie plays like a voyage of discovery. All your preconceived notions created at the outset are washed overboard as K-19 navigates its suspenseful course.
The first hurdle you must overcome is accepting the idea of Harrison Ford as a Soviet submarine commander. There is no more American actor than Ford, and even his one alien role — Han Solo — was played more like a California hot-rodder than someone from another galaxy.
Unfortunately, Ford went to the Kevin Costner School of Bad Dialects. His Russian accent comes and goes, but he brings such heroic weight to his role as Capt. Alexei Vostrikov, that you tend to overlook this shortcoming.
Ford also proffers a very sly performance. At first he leads you down the garden path. Vostrikov is portrayed as part Capt. Bligh, part Capt. Queeg with a bash of Gene Hackman from Crimson Tide tossed in for good measure.
And, initially, as you watch K-19, the screenplay by Christopher Kyle, based on a story by Louis Nowra, has you leaning toward a Russian version of that earlier film.
Such is not the case. Set in 1961, when tensions were highest during the Cold War, and supposedly “inspired by true events,” K-19 revolves around the maiden voyage of the Soviet Union’s newest nuclear-powered submarine, and the various obstacles it encounters — both mechanical and personal.
Before even leaving dry-dock, the boat is considered a Jonah, called “"The Widowmaker” by its crew because 10 men have died during its construction or while fitting it for sea duty.
Ford’s Vostrikov is a rigid, cold, by-the-book authoritarian, who holds the honor of the Motherland above all else. And just when you think you can guess his next move, he pulls the rug out from under you. It is a subtle and deft performance.
As his executive officer, Liam Neeson is Ford’s equal. Originally, the sub’s captain, he was demoted to XO for defending his crew’s performance and citing inferior Soviet equipment for the boat’s various snafus.
He, too, performs some feats of acting legerdemain. Again, when you think you can predict his actions, Neeson’s Capt. Mikhail Polenin does the unexpected.
And that is the pleasure of this film.
Director Kathryn Bigelow does a masterful job at recreating the tight-fitting and claustrophobic atmosphere of submarine live.
One of the movie’s weak points lies in Klaus Badelt’s score, which is too loud and ponderous, and is used mostly to cover the few moments in which nothing happens.
Another drawback deals with some of the underwater special effects, which look like they jumped right off a computer screen.
K-19 provides solid entertainment. It contains some weak dialogue, and a few characters are not fully developed, but overall the journey will leave you feeling satisfied.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette.
Bloom's reviews also appear on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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