Block-Busted

Rating: 4/10 (27 May 2001)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** I have a long-running debate with a friend concerning the value of Jerry Bruckheimer's and Michael Bay's films. I have contended that, although not "great" movies, they are nonetheless entertaining. I enjoyed "The Rock" and "Armageddon," although I didn't expect I would. They were fun -- good romps that weren't so schmaltzy as to be annoying.
No so for Pearl Harbor, which is so formulaic and over-the-top that I could barely sit through the entire film. If it weren't my partner's birthday and her desire to see the movie, I would've walked out. I agree with several of the comments made by other IMDB users, particularly that the love triangle is awkward and contrived, leading to the blatant use of Josh Hartnett's death as a plot resolution device.
The special effects are impressive, causing the battle sequences to roar right through you. But that's all I can recommend for the movie. The film struggles to identify itself as either a love story within a war or a war story with a love interest, neither achieving either successfully. The result is a romantic storyline that is overblown, forced, and all too predictable. Was anyone surprised at Ben Affleck's return halfway through the film? Neither was I.
The feeling I had throughout the film can only be described as "unengaged." I found myself caring little about the three main characters, especially when the dialogue was so ridiculous and you knew what they were going to do before they did it. Unfortunately, that left me uninvolved in the development and execution of the actual attack, which was the best part of the movie. If anything, I was most drawn in by the performances of Jon Voight as President Roosevelt and Cuba Gooding Jr Dorie Miller. Voight is right-on and Gooding carries a strong presence when he is on screen. The problem is that Gooding's plot-line seems thrown in as an afterthought, only connecting to Kate Beckinsale's character through a brief and unaffecting encounter.
My suggestion to Bay and Bruckheimer is to cut completely the last part of the movie about the aftermath and subsequent American response, and then pick either the romance or the battle to focus on. Perhaps one of the two plots alone would make a nice, manageable 90 min feature. Better yet, give the audience a bit of respect and challenge them a bit with less schmaltz and more substance.