a decidedly mixed bag

Rating: Null/10 (16 July 2001)

MULTIPLE SPOILERS ALERT
OK, I know it's been out nearly 2 months, but I just saw this at the $2.50 movies LOL. It is alternately very good and very bad, blatantly ripping off the "Titanic" formula, from certain shots (overturning ships, floating bodies) to a tragic love story to a power ballad that was obviously supposed to be the next "My Heart Goes On," but isn't. The attack footage is gripping and disturbingly beautiful, almost balletic -- war should never, *ever* be allowed to look this pretty onscreen -- cf. Saving Private Ryan or, even better, the HBO flick When Trumpets Fade starring the highly underrated Ron Eldard. And no movie should ever consist of about 1/3 slo-mo shots. Mr. Bay seems never to have found an effect he didn't like enough to repeat till it ceases to be effective.
As for the love triangle, the very capable Mr. Hartnett plays the whole movie like he's totally in love with Mr. Affleck -- a shrewd and interesting choice. Alas, Mr. Affleck is a total stick (the only worse performance in the movie is the absurdly over-the-top turn by Alec Baldwin). Ms. Beckinsale is excellent -- indeed the whole subplot with the nurses is surprisingly substantive and moving -- but in the climactic scene, she is literally left waiting by the phone.
Worth seeing, but it could have been great -- especially if the filmmakers had trusted the truth of history: America lost this round, and paid dearly for it. Turning it into a "Top Gun" victory ride undercuts everything about the film that works.