Overall, one of the year's best

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2002)

This year, a variety of films have captured audiences attentions such as the light-hearted comedies, About a Boy and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and the action-packed thrilling adventures of Minority Report and Reign of Fire. Other films disappoint audiences' expectations like Men in Black II but remain nonetheless fun to watch. And then there's Halloween: Resurrection and Eight Legged Freaks which I won't even discuss. While eating our popcorn waiting anxiously to see all these highly anticipated films, we see a trailer for something different. We see Harrison Ford (one of our favorites) dressed in naval attire with a very peculiar accent. Next we hear words such as "fate of the world", and "lies in the hands of a group of men" and our attention becomes captivated. Then we see Liam Neeson (who could forget Schindler's List) and put it on our list of films to see.
For some reason, however, K-19 did not sky-rocket at the box office. This could possibly be due to the fact that in this movie the heroes toast to communism and despise the Americans. Movie-goers wrote this one off as not exactly the type of film they look forward to seeing in light of previous events. I, though, am not one to pass off a seemingly good suspense movie and find that rooting for the enemy (Das Boot) broadens one's mind during a time when we doubt if we can trust the rest of the world.
The movie focuses on Naval Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford), devoted to the Soviet Union as was his father before him, who becomes the chief commander (forgive my poor naval terms) of K-19, the world's most powerful submarine. Under his command is the crew of Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson), a group of young, hardworking but laid back men who aren't exactly up to the expectations of Vostrikov. Polenin himself is adored by his men and considers his duty to be to protect his men and the people of the Soviet Union rather than to risk all in case of actual war with the Americans. Vostrikov and Polenin have an agree-to-disagree relationship which boils when underway over risking the lives of men to see "where the edge is." To make matters worse, the crew has nicknamed their submarine "The Widowmaker", due to the numerous deaths of crew members during the ship's build not to mention the doctor being run over by a truck only to be replaced with another who gets "a little seasick." The crew's fears are realized when radiation spreads throughout the sub due to a leak causing the core temperature to rise. The crew must find a way to repair the damage and perform their tasks as men of honor despite their loss of faith in themselves as well as in their commander.
Director Kathryn Bigelow illustrates the claustrophobia of a submarine and the tension between Vostrikov and his men magnificently. The audience feels the nervousness of what these men must have felt and can truly see the courage of the seven men who tried to stop the leak. Rather than focusing on special effects, she focuses on the inner struggle of each individual man as he searches for the courage within him. Hopefully, we'll be seeing more of this brilliant director in a time when special effects and crude humor is what it's all about.
Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson lead the film nicely. Both roles are incredibly difficult to portray and each was able to nicely add depth to his character. The accent on Harrison Ford, however, was definitely not one of the film's highlights. He does a superb job though of convincing the audience of the worthiness of his cause. The main highlights of the film, however, are the supporting cast. Peter Sarsgaard is wonderful as Vadim Radtchenko. He adds humanity to the film being the character the audience can relate to. We can sense his fear as well as his determination. Despite his deserving of it, unfortunately I highly doubt the Academy will remember him next year. Christian Camargo portrays Pavel Loktev with great passion and depth as well. Other greats include the two antagonists Yuri Demichev (Steve Nicolson) and Igor Suslov (Ravil Issayanov). The audience is able to see their fear and distrust in their captain and relate to them as real people as well. Another supporting character who is not often mentioned is Anatoly Starkov portrayed by James Ginty. Ginty illustrates the humanity of the men aboard the K-19. While we see many of the other characters as soldiers, we see his character's boyish innocence as well as his unquestionable bravery. Hollywood is in desperate need of a young male actor like him in an era of Josh Hartnetts and Chris Kleins.
Overall, K-19 delivers entertainment unlike any other movie of the year thus far. The film is suspenseful as well as touching and delivers superb performances as well as excellent direction. Although possibly not oscar-worthy, it is unquestionably one of the year's best so far.