Tense and enjoyable

Rating: 8/10 (10 December 2007)

Here's something interesting: a travesty of history in order to pave the way for breakneck action sequences. America! F*** Yeah!
Many people with any sort of knowledge about the actual Allied apprehension of the Enigma machine and ensuing code breaking probably laughed out loud at this movie. It does in fact deviate from history. No wait, I take that back, it creates its own history. Then in doing so it puts the Americans at the forefront when it was really the Polish who acquired and first deciphered the Enigma and then it was reconstructed by the British. Sure, the history is wrong, but the action/suspense is first rate and the characters are actually likable. Take "Pearl Harbor" which also has gross inaccuracies in history, but then it doesn't provide anything else to make up for it. It just shows a clichéd love triangle and lots of explosions. "U-571" has great action scenes and a genuine sense of danger that all audiences want for their heroes of figure out a way out of. Predictably they, do, but that's part of the fun of these movies.
Also, it should be noted that while "U-571" makes use of many war and action movie clichés it doesn't do it so shamelessly. In fact, it's one of those movies that takes familiar elements and rearranges them into its own rhyme and rhythm. The resulting story has about as much structural integrity as the submarine that carries our heroes - it takes you on a tense ride, but that's it. And what more could you really ask for from an action movie? In fact many movies are much better when viewed as action movies. What is probably my favorite movie of all time, "Where Eagles Dare," is not a war movie. The book was mildly believable, but the movie not at all. But that's why they call it "escapist realism" so you can escape from the reality and enjoy a reworked set of rules. When used right, these new rules, hopefully, provide good entertainment. And in "U-571" they do so and they do it very well. --- 8/10
Rated PG-13 for action/violence. Ages 7+