PEARL HARBOR

2001

I went into this film expecting a bomb (no pun intended,) but I was completely won over; it's a fine film. Think of it as the last ADULT film of the "serious" movie season (Fall/Winter/Spring,) rather than the first mindless, adolescent action-blockbuster of the summer. Yes, there IS a narrative (a good one,) and yes, there IS character development, and yes, there IS even some good acting. Not the Academy Award type, but good acting nevertheless. For the first 1-1/2 hours, stories and characters are created and developed, in preparation for putting all of these people (pilots, nurses, leaders etc.) in place when those bombs begin to fall on the resort-base at Pearl Harbor. The story line (albeit soap-opera in tone) follows three young people who form the film's central love triangle. At the apex, is the nurse played beautifully by Kate Beckinsale, who is loved by the cocky, stupidly reckless hero (played by Ben Affleck) and his shy best friend (played very well by Josh Hartnett.) The plum acting role goes to Jon Voight as Franklin Roosevelt, and he steals the film.(Alec Baldwin isn't bad either as Jimmy Doolittle who leads the raid on Tokyo.) The Japanese military leaders are portrayed realistically as human beings, rather than monsters. If you saw the previews, you knew the computer graphics would be incredible for the actual bombing of Pearl Harbor, but they'll surpass your expectations. For the 40 minutes that it takes to show the bombings, you'll see things that you've never seen on screen before; absolutely breathtaking. Even if you come out hating this film...you SHOULD see it!

5 Stars

NJB

The most anticipated and most hyped film of the summer is also one of the worst reviewed films of the year and there is little wonder why. Two best friends (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) fall in love with the same woman (Kate Beckinsale) amidst the threat of WWII and the devastating events that lead to the US going to war. At a robust 3 hours and 8 minutes, the film does not try to rush you through all this. At close to the halfway point in the film the attack on Pearl Harbor begins and that is what you pay your money to see. And while the death and destruction created are remarkable, there isn't much you haven't seen here. We saw better "gruesome" and "exciting" in Saving Private Ryan. We saw better" tragic" in Titanic. BUT, the film does such a great job building up to the attack, my stomach was doing cartwheels from the suspense. Take away the bombing of the Harbor scene, however, and this becomes a very blah, predictable and somewhat annoying love story. Ben Affleck is fine until he has to show real emotions, Josh Hartnett is ok, but the best acting by far is by Kate Beckinsale who they made look stunningly beautiful in just about every scene (including the bloody hospital scenes). No other performances are really worth mentioning because they are all such little parts, but it is interesting to see all of the other fine, well-known actors that director Michael Bay found to scatter throughout the film. This is definitely a film worth seeing on the big screen because like all other Bay films it really is such a BIG and beautiful production with a good deal of action and cool FX, but I think most won't return for a second viewing.

3 Stars

CDF