film: review

> PEARL HARBOR (2001)
The 2001Summer film season kicks off...with a giant bore that pretends to be in the same class as Saving Private Ryan.

By John C. Lyons
Film Critic

Starring: Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Josh Hartnett

Directed by: Michael Bay

Written by: Randall Wallace

Genre: Drama/Action

Our Rating: 5 out of 10

The theater was sold-out on opening night of Pearl Harbor. As I'm sure it was this entire Memorial Day weekend across America. They let everyone into the theater about 45 minutes early, which I've never seen before, maybe it was to create more excitement for the film? People could be heard buzzing in anticipation of the special effects. Some reflected on the war. Although the overwhelming majority of the crowd were not veterans. And others craved more popcorn. The stage was set for a great movie-going experience! The previews began and ended... and then the lights dimmed, the music soundtrack started, and the film rolled on...

...and on, and on, and on. Everyone knows that this film is going to have some amazing visuals and special effects. You come to expect this from a Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay film. Let me tell you this: I will admit, I am a huge fan of everything that the Summer movie season stands for. You don't go to a big, blockbuster Summer movie looking for Oscar-winning performances. You don't go (usually) for amazing scripts or tear-jerking romances. No way! You go because you want to see stuff get blown up, bullets fly, and you want to laugh. This is why I love movies, because of stuff like this... it makes me happy. You go because you are paying $7 (or more) to be entertained. Whether it be a Disney movie with the kids, an action flick with your friends, or something somewhere in between. The whole key is eye-candy and short attention spans. The team of Bruckheimer and Bay know this, and they know how to do it correctly. However, in the case of Pearl Harbor, they got confused and thought they could be Spielberg.

The story involves a love triangle between Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, and Josh Hartnett. Ben and Josh (Rafe and Danny) have been best friends since they were very young. They both love flying planes. And they both, ultimately, love the same woman. This plot is supposed to be the main attraction and the war and the bombing of Pearl Harbor as supposed to serve as a backdrop. However, after the 40-some minute Japanese attack scenes end, this love story quickly becomes the backdrop to the action and the film barely limps along until it finally ends. With its a huge budget and such a great sequence at its mid-point, this film could have been a great one, in the same vein as the recent Saving Private Ryan. The mechanics of the movie are just plain bad. You build the relationship between the two friends and have them grow up and excel in air combat together. Have them fall in love with Evelyn (Beckinsale). Tensions build and this all moves along at a nice pace, and the film really works well the first half. Then the movie really erupts with a very long and exciting action sequence, the stuff that Bruckheimer/Bay do best. But then you have to go back to this whole love triangle plot and at that point you don't really even care. It's this last third of the movie that is really unnecessary and kills the giant buzz that you get off of the war scenes.

The theater empties. The majority of the people, I included, seem more happy that the film has finally ended more than anything else. Sure the war scenes were amazing, and they would have gotten me to see it from that alone, but this film tried too hard to be in the same league as Saving Private Ryan and even Titanic. I recommend that Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay stick to what they do best (big-budget entertainment like Armageddon, The Rock, and Bad Boys) and leave directing the serious, epic films to the guys who take home the Oscars. I also recommend for moviegoers, that if you really must see this movie, for the scenes that everyone is seeing this movie for anyhow, then please leave after them and I can email you the ending, if you care.

I saw this film at the Tinseltown theaters on upper Peach Street in Erie.

PROs: The action. The scenes showing the bombing of Pearl Harbor were truly amazing! Kate Beckinsale and Josh Hartnett have potential in the future.

CONs: LONG, LONG, LONG.......zzzzzzzzzzz

(01-0529)

related links:

Pearl Harbor - official site