As Powerful as Film Making Gets

Rating: 8/10 (21 July 2002)

When I heard about K-19: The Widowmaker, I wasn't even sure what to think about it. Part of me went, "Oh, another submarine movie...We've seen it all before." I did notice that Harrison Ford had turned down working in Christopher Nolan's version of "Insomnia" and wondered...there must have been something about K-19 to turn down another great acting opportunity.
Then I thought about Harrison Ford doing a Russian accent, and the questions rose again. "Do I really want to spend $10 on this?"
Even after my decision was made, while buying the ticket, I couldn't have been that excited because I wasn't even sure if I said the films' name correctly when at the ticket booth. Then came some of the opening moments where I had to accept Ford and other's not-so-wonderful Russian accents but that was the end to my questioning.
Frankly, I am beside myself over the criticisms I have read from critics who think this is an "average" film. The word misunderstood, is actually an overwhelming understatement, because I took K-19 to be one of the most powerful pieces of film making I have seen in quite some time.
One of the earlier comments I read here by Ignacio Martinez-Ybor (imyjr@attbi.com) expressed nearly identical sentiments I felt about the movie.

The comparisons to "The Hunt for Red October," and co. seem to possess little validity, in my view. This is NOT an action based thriller in the same conventional way that these other movies were. It is REAL LIFE DRAMA, that digs deep into the soul of what it is like to be a human being facing choices that we wish we would neve have to make. I do not think I could not possibly commend Kathryn Bigelow's direction enough here. This is a REAL and REFRESHING FEMININE TAKE on war and being human. Her understanding of this transcends nearly all of the submarine and war films (with a few exceptions) that come to mind.
There are some Hollywood movies that have attempted to deal with this subject matter before, not simply one's about war either, but they all somehow seem to cop out and turn real grit into some mushy nonsense (whether it be patriotism, or overly romantic) that isn't believable. K-19 had a few moments here and there, particularly the end, that suffered from this syndrome, but the predominant message was too strong to be lost in (what was likely) some producers' addition to Bigelow's final piece.
I would also be remised to not mention the fact that the characters who we learn to care about are members of the Soviet Navy...THE MORTAL ENEMY, to many Americans barely a decade ago. This was part of "The Hunt For Red October" as well, but the intentions of the Sub in this movie, was MUCH different than that Sean Connery was running. There really is no clear cut over-the-top enemy character here (normally a staple of Hollywood dramas) so we have to think of other potential enemies on our own, although plenty of subtle hints, this I found to be QUITE pleasant.
The acting, outside of the accents, was overall of high quality. Ford and Neeson are magnificent in their emotional depiction and the supporting cast, of mostly unknowns, was also quite good. We really care about these characters and we HAVE TO in this movie. Credit must go to Ms. Bigelow as well here for this.
Overall, K-19 goes as one of my best films of the year and something I hope does not remain overlooked due to critics and film goers expecting something else. I have a feeling this could be a word-of-mouth winner over time. Be warned though, there is some painful material here to deal with but in the end it makes it all the more gratifying.
Highly Recommended.