Pearl Harbor: Sink or Swim

Rating: 3/10 (29 May 2001)

The latest film out from Jerry Bruckheimer, Pearl Harbor, marks Hollywood's latest entry in the Extended Play Club. Running just over 3 hours in length (not including the credits), Pearl Harbor sets out to accomplish one simple task: to bring the totality of the events of December 7th, 1941 to heart and mind. This, is what it sets out to do. What they actually accomplished was something quite different.
Pearl Harbor produced many emotions in me, not least of which was the emotional response to the destruction of the Japanese attack on the U.S. Naval base, and the finality and reality of death. However, the one true feeling that this movie spawned was bewilderment.
In setting out to create a specific plot that would add some focus to the broader story of the attack and beginning of U.S. involvement in the war is a romance, featuring our films three main stars. Yes, that's right, I said three. Our blockbuster face, as you must by now know, is that of Ben Affleck who plays pilot Rafe McCawley. Co-Starring as his life-long best friend Danny Walker is the not-as-well-known Josh Hartnett. Hartnett has appeared in a few films (Town and Country, The Faculty), but this surely intended to serve as his star power engine. And the love of these two character's young lives, Evelyn Johnson, is played by Kate Beckinsdale (Brokedown Palace, Much Ado About Nothing). These young stars strive through most of the movie to do their best at confusing the intentions of the film and the audience in general.
The fact is that while there is this impending doom reminiscent of "Titanic," insofar as that you KNOW that the Japanese are going to attack, the production team does its best to make you forget about that. Their attempts, of course, fail miserably. The thing they succeed in doing is creating a paradox of sorts. While you know what's going to happen, there is this constant feeling that you don't really know anything at all. The romance that develops between these three characters is so twisted and confused that by the time the attack rolls around you're so out of sorts you're wondering if maybe the American's will win the fight this time.
I feel pressured somehow to recommend that you see this film for yourself. I say that because I don't really trust the reviews of anybody other than myself, and can't require that any other person does the same. But at the same time I cannot in good conscience say that it is a good film. It is "alright."
Many historians have criticized `Pearl Harbor' for inaccuracies, and while watching it you certainly can understand why. It is a blockbuster for Blockbuster's sake. It is no "Saving Private Ryan." It's not even a "Titanic."
This is not the best movie I've seen in a long time. This isn't even the best movie I've seen this week. "Pearl Harbor" leaves much to be desired.
The one thing that I can say about "Pearl Harbor" is that it gives you everything your expecting when you get there, and it does them as well as you'd expect. The attack sequence is what I was awaiting when I got there, and I got what I was waiting for. It was the superfluous psycho-romance that surrounds and penetrates the attack that really drives this tirade today.
Great Effects. Generally Good Acting. Good Directing. But was the screenwriter smoking crack?
Grade: C (60%)