Interesting but Long

Rating: 7/10 (18 March 2008)

K-19: The Widowmaker (2002, Dir. Kathryn Bigelow)
It's the height of the 1960's Cold War, and Russia launches the K-19, a flagship nuclear submarine. Aboard this submarine are Captain Alexei Vostrikov and popular executive officer Mikhail Polenin. Tension can easily be felt between the two, as they constantly clash, but both share the unwavering patriotism. When the vessel's nuclear reactor system begins to leak, the two men and their crew must become brave countrymen and work together before all is lost.
I must admit, that I probably only had a slight interest in 'K-19: The Widowmaker' because of Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson. If it didn't featured these two stars, then a 132 minutes submarine movie may have put me off. I did find it interesting though, and really did tell a good story throughout the film. The beginning was quite slow, but the performances of Ford and Neeson were able to keep you hooked on. As the movie progressed, it did gain more interesting, especially during the last 40 minutes. The Russians accents were not that bad. I felt that Harrison Ford pulled off a good imitation, but Liam Neeson still seemed to have a slight Irish accent. The only real problem I had with the film was the length. 132 minutes can fly by with some films, whilst seem like hours for others. Unfortunately, this film was one of the slow ones. When you thought it was nearly finished, it turned out that you had another 40 minutes left. Still, if you like history and don't mind a long film, then you might just enjoy this.
"You betray your family."
"You betray me." - Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson)