Lots of water and lots of action

Rating: 5/10 (3 September 2014)

In the spring of 1942, the U-boats are taking a toll on Allies shipping. The Allies need to capture an Enigma machine and code books without the Germans knowing it's gone. Lt. Tyler (Matthew McConaughey) thinks he deserves his own command. However there's a special mission for him to use an old U-boat to pose as the resupply boat to capture a disabled German U-boat and steal their intel before they can destroy it. Lt. Cmdr. Dahlgren (Bill Paxton)is the skipper. Lt. Hirsch (Jake Weber) is a German speaker with the special mission. Maj. Coonan (David Keith) is naval intelligence. Just when they succeed in capturing a disabled U-boat, their boat is attacked and sunk leaving them a crippled boat in enemy waters but they can't contact home or else the Germans will know that their codes are compromised. Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi, Erik Palladino and Will Estes play some of the crew.
The action gets pretty good. It's big with lots of water and explosions. However it never gets beyond a Hollywood version of a submarine movie. It has its good points. The acting is alright but McConaughey is a little overwhelmed. There is a little too much big acting going on. Everything is done at the highest level of drama. It's very bombastic and doesn't spend a lot of time taking a breather. It's like a heavy meal of junk food that is soon forgotten.