The Perfect Storm (film)
The Perfect Storm | |
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Directed by | Wolfgang Petersen |
Screenplay by | William D. Wittliff |
Based on | The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Baltimore Spring Creek Pictures |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 130 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $120 million[1]- $140 million[2] |
Box office | $328.7 million[3] |
The Perfect Storm is a 2000 American disaster drama film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and based on the 1997 creative non-fiction book of the same name by Sebastian Junger. The film was adapted by William D. Wittliff, with an uncredited rewrite by Bo Goldman, and tells the story of the Andrea Gail, a commercial fishing vessel that was lost at sea with all hands after being caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991.[4] The film stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane, William Fichtner, Karen Allen, Bob Gunton, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, and John C. Reilly.
The Perfect Storm was released on June 30, 2000, by Warner Bros.. Despite mixed reviews, the film grossed $328 million worldwide, becoming the eighth highest-grossing film of 2000.
Plot
In October 1991, the
As the crew of Andrea Gail battles the raging sea, a strong wind breaks the ship's radio antenna just as
The Andrea Gail endures various problems including 40-foot (12 m) waves crashing onto the deck, a broken stabilizer ramming the side of the ship with a loose anchor, and two crew members briefly getting thrown overboard. The ship struggles to sail through pounding waves and shrieking winds, while friends and family worry and wait for news. Billy makes a successful attempt to turn the boat around. However, the storm turns its direction towards the boat, and the vessel encounters an enormous rogue wave. They attempt to drive the boat over the wave, but it crests before it can get to the top and is overturned. Billy elects to go down with his ship, the rest of the crew are trapped inside the living quarters, and only one, Bobby, manages to get out. He surfaces and watches as Andrea Gail rights herself before sinking stern-first into the depths of the Atlantic. Bobby silently says goodbye to his girlfriend and loved ones as the rapidly rising swell carries him away.
There are no survivors; Linda reads the eulogy at the memorial. Later, as she heads out to sea again, she remembers Billy soliloquizing about what it means to be a sword (fish) boat captain.
Cast
- George Clooney as Frank William "Billy" Tyne, Jr., captain of Andrea Gail, a swordfishing boat. Billy is a divorced father of two daughters, who is determined to undertake one last fishing trip before the end of the season to make up for a recent string of poor catches. Petersen asked Harrison Ford to play the role but Ford declined; his second choice was Nicolas Cage, who also turned it down, and Mel Gibson was offered the role but wanted too much money.[5][6][7]
- Mark Wahlberg as Robert "Bobby" Shatford, the least experienced of the crew of Andrea Gail. Bobby is the son of Ethel Shatford, the owner of the Crow's Nest, and boyfriend to Chris Cotter. He enjoys commercial fishing, but his deepening relationship with Chris (coupled with her reluctance to let him sail again) creates conflict within himself and between the couple. Yet, he is compelled by the potential to earn more money at sea than he could make with a job on shore to sign on for one last trip.
- John C. Reilly as Dale "Murph" Murphy, senior crewmember on Andrea Gail. Murph is a veteran fisherman who is divorced with a son with whom he's very involved. Murph has a rocky relationship with crewmember David "Sully" Sullivan.
- Diane Lane as Christina "Chris" Cotter, girlfriend of Bobby Shatford. She does not want Bobby to go on the trip because of a bad feeling she has about it. She spends her time during the last fishing trip decorating an apartment she has rented as a surprise for Bobby to symbolize her commitment to him.
- William Fichtner as David "Sully" Sullivan, crewmember on Andrea Gail. He signed on to replace crew member Douglas "Dougie" Kosco, who gave up his site after the last trip. Sully and Murph initially have an antagonistic relationship that is fueled in part by Sully's past involvement with Murph's ex-wife, although the details are not made clear in the film.
- John Hawkes as Michael "Bugsy" Moran, a member of Andrea Gail's crew. Bugsy's somewhat comic inability to connect with women appears to change on the eve of the trip, when he meets Irene, a divorced mother at the Crow's Nest.
- Allen Payne as Alfred Pierre, one of the crew of Andrea Gail.
- Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Linda Greenlaw, the captain of Hannah Boden. Linda and Billy both captain ships for the same owner and maintain a friendly rivalry. She is concerned about Billy and his crew's going out in what she considers dangerous weather. Linda is the last to speak to Andrea Gail.
- Karen Allen as Melissa Brown, crewmember on Mistral.
- Bob Gunton as Alexander McAnally III, owner of Mistral, a yacht caught in the storm.
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- Dash Mihok as Sergeant Jeremy Mitchell, a pararescueman on the New York Air National Guard rescue helicopter.
- Josh Hopkins as Captain Darryl Ennis.
- Michael Ironside as Bob Brown, owner of Andrea Gail and Hannah Boden. Although Brown seems to harbor a deep-seated recognition of Tyne's skills at catching fish, he nevertheless pressures Tyne over the latter's recent inability to bring in larger hauls, resulting in an uneasy relationship between the two.
- Cherry Jones as Edie Bailey, crewmember on Mistral.
- Rusty Schwimmer as Irene “Big Red” Johnson, a divorced mother of two children.
- Janet Wright as Ethel Shatford, Bobby's mother, who supports his relationship with Christina.
- Todd Kimsey as Lieutenant Rob Pettit.
Other notable appearances include Joseph D. Reitman as Douglas Kosco and Sandy Ward as Quentin (The Old Timer), a retired fisherman.[8]
Historical accuracy
The Andrea Gail
A ship similar to Andrea Gail, Lady Grace, was used during the filming of the movie.[9][10] Most of the names used were not changed for the fictional film, but in response two lawsuits were later filed by certain families of the crew members. The film only claims to be "based on a true story", and differs in many ways from the book starting with the fictionalization of the material into a "story". The events shown in the film after the Andrea Gail's last radio contact are pure speculation, as the boat and the bodies of the crew were never found.[11]
Contrary to the movie's storyline, Captain
Hurricane Grace is exaggerated in the movie when it is referred to by a weather forecaster as a "category 5" storm, which has winds sustained at over 137 knots (≥ 157 mph).[14] In reality, the hurricane had already peaked at category 2 intensity and ocean buoy monitors recorded wind gusts at 65 knots (75 mph) around the time Andrea Gail sank.[15] In the movie, Tyne and his crew agreed to head into the dangerous storm in order to save their fish from spoiling. Greenlaw acknowledged that Tyne did mention having ice problems, but that was not unusual. "My one gripe about [the] movie was how Warner Brothers depicted Billy Tyne and his crew as making a very conscious decision to steam into a storm that they knew was dangerous," said Greenlaw. "That is not what happened. Andrea Gail was three days into their steam home when the storm hit. Whatever happened to Andrea Gail happened very quickly."[12]
An Air National Guard helicopter was dispatched from
When asked about the portrayal of "Sully" in the movie, Cathy Sullivan Mustone, an older sister of David "Sully" Sullivan, said she was disappointed. "They made my brother's character out to be a hothead," she said. "I guess every movie needs a villain, but my brother was a funny guy with a loud laugh and a big smile. He had a lot of guts and he loved fishing." In fact, Sullivan's bravery and quick thinking made headlines on a different boat—Harmony. One night during a winter fishing trip, Harmony began taking on water while tied to another boat. The crew of Harmony yelled for help, hoping to wake the nearby crew. No one woke, so Sullivan dove into the icy water, pulling himself on the ropes that tied the boats together. As a result of his bravery, Harmony's crew was saved. Mustone said, "At least in the movie, they did represent my brother's bravery in a water rescue scene. He was a good man. And I just know he is at peace in heaven, safe with our Dad."[12]
The Satori
This section needs additional citations for verification. (November 2023) |
The crew members of Satori (renamed Mistral in the movie) were not rescued by an
There is controversy over whether the Captain was drunk, as charged by the women in the book, with Leonard objecting to this characterization. Out of compassion for the expected loss of his boat, the Coast Guard did not test his
After the storm, Leonard searched for the Satori, hoping to find her still afloat, but in spite of his attempts she was found a few days later washed ashore on a Maryland beach, a bag of personal belongings still on deck. Leonard paid for a 60-foot fishing vessel to drag her off the beach, helped by a channel dug by Park Rangers who had been guarding the boat. He continued to sail the boat until he sold her to a new owner in 2000.[16]
Reception
Box office
The Perfect Storm was a box office success. On its opening weekend, it debuted with $41.3 million ahead of
Critical response
The
The Perfect Storm received mixed reviews from critics, with a 46% approval rating on critic site Rotten Tomatoes, based on 137 reviews, and an average rating of 5.6/10, with a consensus of, "While the special effects are well done and quite impressive, this film suffers a lack of any actual drama or characterization. The end result is a film that offers nifty eye-candy and nothing else."[22] Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 36 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[23] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[24]
Accolades
The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Sound (John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, David E. Campbell and Keith A. Wester), and Best Visual Effects (Walt Conti, Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier and Habib Zargarpour) but lost both to Gladiator.[25][26] It was also nominated for a Stinker Award for Most Intrusive Musical Score.[27]
Filming
The Perfect Storm was partially filmed in Gloucester, Massachusetts.[28][29]
Lawsuits
After the film was released, the families of two crew members sued the film makers for the fictionalization of events which happened prior to the loss of Andrea Gail.
See also
- 106th Rescue Wing
- 1991 Perfect Storm
- Air Force Pararescue
- The Perfect Storm (book)
- Godless Men (1920)
- Stormswept (1923)
- Code of the Sea (1924)
- Rugged Water (1925)
- Survival film
References
- ^ Welkos, R.W. (May 7, 2000). "Prepare for Good, Sick Fun". Los Angeles Times. p. 4. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
- ^ "The Perfect Storm".
- ^ "The Perfect Storm (2000) - Financial Information".
- ^ "The Great Screenwriters: Part 22 – Bo Goldman". The Script Lab. November 29, 2018. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
- ^ "29 Movies That Almost Starred Harrison Ford". July 13, 2017.
- ^ "The Perfect Storm". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ "15 Things You Might Not Know About the Perfect Storm". June 30, 2015.
- ^ "The Perfect Storm's Andrea Gail Comes Home to Massachusetts". Warner Bros. July 14, 2000. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
- ^ Candus Thomson (June 23, 2000). "Ocean City boat sails off to stardom". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
- ^ a b c "Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the F/A Andrea Gail" (PDF). United States Coast Guard. January 28, 1994. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Terry Weber (October 29, 2011). "What really happened to the Andrea Gail?" (PDF). Gloucester Daily Times. Retrieved January 22, 2020.
- ^ Ringle, Ken (July 4, 2000). "Reality Gets the Heave-Ho In Not-So-Perfect 'Storm'". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 13, 2020.
- ^ Collura, Chris. ""PERFECT" Storm Questions and Answers". www.sky-chaser.com. Retrieved January 21, 2019.
- ^ "Meteorologists Say 'Perfect Storm' Not So Perfect". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
- ^ a b c "Satori - Perfect Storm". Westsail Owners Association. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
- ^ "George Clooney "Storms" Box Office". ABC News.
- ^ Karger, Dave (December 11, 2001). "Ocean's Eleven topples Harry Potter". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 22, 2022.
- ^ "The Perfect Storm". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ ”Instant Calamity: Just Add Water” [Film Review]. New York Times, 30 June 2000.
- ^ "The Perfect Storm". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
- ^ "The Perfect Storm" – via www.metacritic.com.
- ^ "Home". CinemaScore. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "The 73rd Academy Awards (2001) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Archived from the original on 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
- ^ "Past Winners Database". January 5, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-01-05.
- ^ "The Endicott Estate in Dedham, Massachusetts". British Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
- ^ Lichtenstein, Bill (June 12, 2012). ""The American Revolution" Documentary Film Shoots at Historic Endicott Estate - Iconic Boston Media Figures Interviewed for High-Profile Film on WBCN-FM at Dedham Mansion". PR.com. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ "Court Revives 'Perfect Storm' Lawsuit". St. Petersburg Times Online. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ^ a b Unger, Howard M. (2002-05-31). "Judge sinks 'Perfect Storm' lawsuit". Sarasota Herald Tribune. Archived from the original on 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2007-11-06.
External links
- Media related to The Perfect Storm (film) at Wikimedia Commons
- Quotations related to The Perfect Storm (film) at Wikiquote
- Official website
- The Perfect Storm at IMDb
- The Perfect Storm at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Perfect Storm at Box Office Mojo
- Plot and background at reelviews.net