A good movie

Rating: 5/10 (6 December 2001)

I found it difficult rating PEARL HARBOR. This is certainly not a great movie, although there was some solid acting and an amazing 40 minute battle scene that made me feel both sad and patriotic. But the majority of the movie is a love triangle between the three leads, and I only found myself only slightly interested in it. In TITANIC (9/10), I found myself almost in tears during the sad parts because I cared about the main characters. In PEARL HARBOR, I didn't care about them as much, (I didn't MIND them, but I didn't care much about them) and so during the sad parts I was mostly bored.
I blame this not on the actors, but on the screenplay. I know Randall Wallace, who wrote for us the brilliant BRAVEHEART (10/10), is capable of better. Most of the dialogue is unsatisfying, and some is laughable. As I mentioned earlier, I feel the acting was one of the PEARL HARBOR's best qualities. This was the first time I was impressed by Ben Affleck as an actor. This was also the first time I had the pleasure of watching Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale, both of whom I can't wait to see more of in the future. I also enjoyed the (brief) performances of Cuba Gooding Jr, Mako, Tom Sizemore and especially Jon Voight as President FDR. Jon Voight stole the show for me, especially in the scene in which he stood up from his wheelchair in order to demonstrate to his associates that nothing is impossible.
The battle scene was incredible. So incredible, in fact, that it's enough for me to call this movie recommendable. Maybe because there was no (bad) dialogue to ruin it, but I felt the sadness I was supposed to feel for the victims while being impressed with the overall coolness of it at the same time. I never felt the kind of emotion during the romance of the movie as I did during the attack scene. I was speechless during this part of the movie, which is exactly how I felt during TITANIC, and the exact feeling any film-maker could hope for or movie-goer could wish for.
The redeeming qualities of this movie is enough for me to give a thumbs up. I just might buy this movie just so I can watch those redeeming qualities, and rewind through the rest of it.
7/10