Dutiful Film Adaptation Never Really Takes Off

Rating: 7/10 (23 May 2008)

This all-star screen adaptation of the Herman Wouk novel is forcefully acted, but it has a by-the-numbers feeling to it, and the drama never really takes hold.
I can aim much the same criticism at the book, which I thought plodded along rather dully and went on for far too long. The movie is actually a pretty decent adaptation, considering the screenwriters had to reduce an 800-page novel to a two-hour film. They picked the right parts to jettison, deciding wisely to stick closely with the events involving Queeg and the Caine, and eliminating much of the narrative surrounding Willie Keith, our guide through the story. There's still too much of him, though, and not enough of Humphrey Bogart, who stepped out of character to play a possibly crazy and possibly dangerous naval captain. Van Johnson and Jose Ferrer should be singled out for their performances, Johnson playing the Caine's executive officer who instigates the mutiny and Ferrer playing the naval lawyer hired to defend the mutineers. The film trips along speedily enough, and it hits all of the high points, but it never really comes alive as a movie and instead feels like what it is -- a fairly faithful but rather uninspired adaptation.
And the less said about Max Steiner's blaring and woefully inappropriate score, the better.
Grade: B