Pearl Harbor Review
by Laura Clifford (lcliffor AT genuity DOT net)May 29th, 2001
PEARL HARBOR
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The son of a Tennessee crop duster, Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) taught his best friend Danny Walker (Josh Hartnett, "The Virgin Suicides") how to fly and even protected Danny from his abusive, WWI vet dad (William Fichtner). Years later, Rafe is tapped to fly with the British Eagle Squadron while Danny is shipped off to Hawaii as is Rafe's girlfriend, Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale, "The Last Days of Disco"), an Army nurse. The threesome's paths will all cross again, though, on the date that will live in infamy, the Japanese attack on "Pearl Harbor."
Director Michael Bay, known for the pyrotechnics of "The Rock" and "Armageddon," attempts to take the James Cameron route of mixing a love story with disaster. While he delivers a magnificent, thirty-five minute special effects knockout, Randall Wallace's ("Braveheart") script only gives us one minor character worth caring about.
The film's first half gives us the Spielbergian Tennessee boyhood that segues to New York to establish the adult love story. In a pitiful 'meet cute' moment, Rafe appeals to Evelyn to pass him on the eye exam (he's dyslexic before there was a word for it) and she does, but also keeps him in his place with a couple of hard, nasty needle jabs (all the nurses are presented as pinup sadists). True love inexplicably ensues, but when Rafe volunteers for combat duty in England, he nobly decides not to consummate the relationship and hands over care of Evelyn to Danny.
Rafe's shot down (and we never for a minute believe he's dead) and shy Danny delivers the news to distraught Evelyn. Gradually, they connect as a couple and do consummate their relationship in a parachute hanger scene that looks like a fashion shoot. When does Rafe return? Why, on December 6th, of course! The attack on Pearl Harbor is reduced to a means for Rafe and Danny to repair their relationship.
Wallace's script offers a few true moments. When Rafe strides onto the English air field and asks for an immediate assignment, he's given a shot up plane with a blood spattered cockpit, fresh from battle. Red (Ewen Bremner, "Trainspotting"), a pilot with a severe stutter, becomes bait for the ladies of WWII and attached to Betty (James King, "Blow"), a sweet, seventeen year old runaway-turned-nurse. The Japanese are portrayed sympathetically with Admiral Yamamoto (Mako) making his famous anti-war statement and Zero pilots surrounded by family photos. (Disney's decision to edit the film for Japan and Germany is a politically correct front for corporate greed.)
Yet, Wallace's attempt to include the story of Dorie Miller (Cuba Gooding Jr.), the cook who became the first African American to be awarded the Silver Star, feels tacked on. Worse yet, the idea that one man (Rafe) would be in the Eagle Squadron, be one of two pilots that get airborne during the Pearl Harbor attack to shoot down six Japanese Zeroes, and then survive Doolittle's (Alec Baldwin) raid, is suspension of intelligence, not belief. The resolution of the romantic triangle is never in doubt (you can practically see the death's head looming over one of the three stars).
During the attack sequence, one of Bay's initial shots is straight out of Spielberg's "Emperor of the Sun," as young boys playing on a cliff are startled by Japanese planes flying by. We see men in the water being strafed "Saving Private Ryan" style (Bay throws in an American flag for good measure) and men sliding down the deck of the U.S.S. Arizona just like their unfortunate counterparts in "Titanic." Rafe and Danny even execute the canyon flying stunts of "Star Wars." Throw in some John Williams' music from "Midway" and we've got Bay as Spielucasron. The overall effect can't be denied, yet only one death has emotional resonance.
Ben Affleck looks the part of the WWII hero, all square-jawed determination, but there's no depth to the character. His is an artificial nobility. He's at his most believable responding to the pain of shooting himself in the eye with a champagne cork. His 'I'm not anxious to die, I'm anxious to matter' line rings hollow. Kate Beckinsale, in the film's most underwritten role, is, not surprisingly, the most shallow of the three leads, a pretty face who seemingly responds to whichever pretty face is placed in front of her. Hartnett is the most believable of the three leads as a shy, quiet guy dealing with extraordinary circumstances.
Cuba Gooding Jr. is as good as his largely symbolic role allows and Alec Baldwin makes for a loyalty-inspiring Doolittle. The best acting comes in some of the smaller roles. Colm Feore as Admiral Kimmel looks commanding and projects frustration at the lack of intelligence he has to work with. Jon Voight makes for a dogged and empathetic F.D.R. James King is touching as naive nurse Betty.
In the end, "Pearl Harbor" is a bloated epic that features a U.S. wartime disaster as a special effects extravaganza.
C
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