Stealing heroics from the English

Rating: 5/10 (26 March 2001)

It is pretty easy to forgive Hollywood for stealing the heroism from the British in this film, since "U-571" is very entertaining and a worthy submarine-drama. What is surprising is that the impressive cast is pretty toned-down and insignificant, mostly because all (except for a VERY miscast Harvey Keitel) perform fairly well. It's fairly predictable and the somewhat overlong "Splashes!" scenes feel extremely second-hand. The claustrophobic environment of WW2 subs is very well captured. I've been aboard an old sub for about a half hour and felt almost suffocated by the cramped confines, and all that is very well captured. On the whole, an entertaining but a little bit insignificant movie.