Between A Depth Charge and A Deep Place

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2008)

People that suffer from claustrophobia may crack under the pressure of watching the Matthew McConaughey movie "U-571" that emphasizes plot over character. Writer & director Jonathan ("Breakdown") Mostow's white-knuckled World War II suspense yarn concerns a gallant group of U.S. Navy submariners that capture a Nazi U-boat and confiscate its ultra-secret Enigma decoding device. Predictably, this secret mission saga charts a hackneyed but hair-raising course with each cliffhanger situation dwarfing its predecessor until the action concludes with a slam-bang! Combine elements of director Dick Powell's "The Enemy Below" (1957) and Wolfgang Peterson's classic "Das Boot!" (1981) and you've got a fair idea what Mostow and co-scribes Sam Montgomery and David Ayer set their sights on with this rugged, old-fashioned, no-holds-barred nail-biter. Despite a raft of technical flaws (ranging from errors in naval rank to submarine technology and ultimately history itself), "U-571" excels as an above-average, adrenalin-drenched adventure about deep sea heroics. Seldom does a war movie rack your nerves, race your pulse, and make you squirm with such consummate skill as this seaworthy epic.
"U-571" imitates but never surpasses "Das Boot." This aquatic chronicle opens in the North Atlantic as a U-boat sinks an Allied supply ship. An Allied destroyer spots the Nazi sub and seeds the ocean with depth charges. The Germans escape by the skin of their teeth, but their engines conk out on them and all their mechanics are dead, leaving them stranded at sea. When the Americans learn about the disable sub, they launch a last minute mission to storm the ship and steal its Enigma decoder. The Enigma was a sophisticated super-typewriter that the German High Command used to communicate with its subs. If the Americans can steal an Enigma, they can cripple Hitler's wolf pack strategy which has enabled the Nazis to dominate the seas. Not only must they heist the decoder, but they also must either liquidate or take the entire crew hostage, so the Nazis will never suspect their decoder has fallen into enemy hands; otherwise, the Germans would change their codes. Accomplishing that ambitions feat turns out easier said than done.
The U.S. Navy disguises the S-33, one of its vintage World War I submarines, as a U-boat. They hope the Germans will mistake it as one of their own when the rendezvous at sea occurs. Lt. Cmdr. Mike Dahlgren ("Twister's" Bill Paxton) skippers this leaky but reliable sardine can, while Matthew ("Contact") McConaughey serves as executive officer Lt. Andrew Tyler. Tyler champs at the bit for his own command, but Dahlgren has torpedoed his ambitions. The skipper doesn't think Tyler has the guts to order men to sacrifice their lives for their country. Meanwhile, as the architects of this daring 'Trojan horse' night-time raid, German-speaking Lt. Hirsch (Jake "Meet Joe Black" Webber) and jaw-jutting Marine Major Coonan (David "An Officer & A Gentleman" Keith) come aboard before they cast off. Coonan plans to train the S-33 crew as his raiding party.
"U-571" does best what only upper echelon war movies can. Neither its heroes nor its audiences get a break. Overwhelming obstacles and even worse odds confound them at every turn. Surprises energize the lean, mean plot, and events wax from bad to worse. The super-charged action never lags under Mostow's taut direction. Pacing is paramount here, and Mostow deep-sizes anything that doesn't enhance the headlong momentum. As the story unfolds, Mostow takes the heroes from the wild open spaces then bottles them and the viewer in the coffin-like confines of a U-boat. The harrowing depth charging sequence that punctuates the final reel will make you clench your teeth and know your fist. Deliberately, Mostow pares characterization to the bone. Of course, the usual stereotypes abound, but a persuasive cast breathes enough lift into them to make them interesting. The hero that wanted to captain a sub doesn't exactly get what he wants, but when he finds himself in command, he manages to make the best of a terrible situation.
Matthew McConaughey of "Dazed & Confused" and Harvey Keitel of "Bad Lieutenant" take top acting honors. McConaughey shows more psychological depth and poise here as an angry young sub commander than he has in all his earlier films put together. As Lt. Andrew Tyler, he goes from being an officer scorned to an austere-minded commander. He learns the meaning of being second-in-command, of making decisions based on imperfect information that may prompt combat casualties. (Rent "The Guns of Navarone" if you don't get it.) Moreover, McConaughey's physical appearance compliments his performance. Hollywood actors all too often ignore the military rules about haircuts and wear their locks at lengths that no officer would dare. McConaughey has his hair shorn to the scalp. The variety of facial expressions he wears manifests the utter desperation that he feels as a green American submarine commander trapped inside a Nazi sub with nothing but his own wits to keep his crew and himself between a depth charge and a deep place. Meanwhile, cast against the grain in a genre new to him, seasoned actor Harvey Keitel provides solid support as the chief of the boat. He helps Lt. Tyler complete his transition from everybody's friend to a feared and respected Naval skipper.
History buffs and navy specialists may not enjoy "U-571" as thoroughly as less demanding moviegoers. Keep in mind, this is Hollywood, not history. This frantic but formulaic actioneer deploys all the standard war movie clichés, but Mostow stages everything with such style and verve that he swamps the flaws. Despite all its blood and gore, a clearly inspirational message underscores "U-571." Every character in this weather-beaten yarn 'does their job' and never quits. Similarly, "U-571" does its job by never letting you off the hook until its thrilling conclusion.