*** out of ****
Year: 2000. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi, Jake Weber, David Keith, T.C. Carson, Jack Noseworthy, Tom Guiry, Thomas Kretschmann, Matthew Settle. Written by Jonathan Mostow, Sam Montgomery, and David Ayer. Directed by Jonathan Mostow. Rated PG-13.
"U-571" is the kind of movie that cannot be taken seriously. In fact, it is absolutely imperative that you don't take it seriously. At all. If you do, you'll hate it. But this isn't a terribly serious movie; it's cotton candy cinema. You pays your money, you gets your thrills, and you shouldn't expect anything more. It's also somewhat pointless to harp on the obvious: "U-571" is filled with war movie clichE9s, stands as a = retread of previous submarine movies ("The Hunt for Red October," "Crimson Tide"), and therefore doesn't have much in the way of original material to offer. But I liked it. Why? Because this movie manages to do something that a lot of bloated Hollywood blockbusters don't: give the audience no-frills, old-fashioned entertainment. I didn't gain any great insights from "U-571," but I had a blast watching it.
The plot? OK, so there are these men, see, and they're on a submarine, see, and they're trying to steal something from another submarine, see, and it doesn't quite go as planned and . . . oh. You want names, don't you? Fine: Lt. Andrew Tyler (Matthew McConaughey) is the executive officer (i.e. second in command) aboard an American submarine during World War II. His captain (Bill Paxton) doesn't think he's ready for his own boat, so despite Tyler's impressive service record, he has withheld his recommendation. While on shore leave, the crew of the sub is called into action: A German sub has been disabled somewhere in the Atlantic, and that sub, the U-571, contains a special encoding device called the Enigma. Since its capture means they will be able to crack the German code, the Allies want to get their hands on this device, and the mission is to board the ship disguised as German sailors, steal the Enigma machine, and get out without anyone knowing. Unfortunately, the plan goes awry when the American sub is destroyed during the raid, leaving Tyler and a skeleton crew stranded aboard the disabled U-571 boat.
But as I said before, specifics don't matter. What matters is that director Jonathan Mostow manages to hit the proper marks with a simple premise, so "U-571" has very little to bog it down. There is a simple, straightforward narrative, nary an extraneous subplot, and a simple goal, and that's all you need to make an effective adventure movie. You'd think it's an easy thing to do, but recent action films have repeatedly failed to get the point. Either we got murky self-importance ("End of Days"), annoyingly "clever" self-parody ("The Mummy"), or pointless and underdeveloped subplots ("The 13th Warrior"). Compared to some of the action-oriented duds thrown our way in the last year, "U-571" is remarkably unpretentious. Mostow keeps it simple: The Americans are the good guys (duh), the Nazis are the bad guys (double duh), and the Americans have to fight improbable odds to beat the Nazis. This gives us ample opportunity for nail-biting action sequences with plenty of leaking water, shaking subs, and the requisite big explosion to top it all off. Mostow handles this all with marvelous economy; there are few unnecessary scenes, and action sequences don't run any longer than they have to. Any director wondering how to properly make a big, dumb, entertaining movie should give this guy a call.
The cast, most likely realizing they are only around as props, just say their lines and get out of the way. In a movie like "U-571," this is as it should be. McConaughey, Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi (your guess is as good as mine), and a score of hard-nosed sailors deliver their frequently dopey one-liners and patriotic soliloquies with square-jawed conviction. That's all they're required to do. After all, we don't root for these guys because they're fully-realized human characters (and they most definitely aren't); we root for them because they're remarkably less evil than the Nazis. Most of the actors' lines practically scream "Exposition!" or "Foreshadowing!" But that's okay -- if you're looking for character development, you're in the wrong place. Let me see, if McConaughey's character has been held back because he's "too close to his men," will he have to make a difficult decision later in the film to sacrifice one of his crew? If there's a German captive kept -- alive -- on board the sub, will he try to sabotage the Americans' chances? Will the good guys win out in the end? Don't worry; you don't have to answer those questions.
So yes, the plot developments in "U-571" are awfully predictable. They also happen at reasonable times, and nothing is overly contrived. When a young sailor has to display some selfless heroism, it happens at the right time. When the Nazi gets his comeuppance, it happens at the right time. Once it gets past the fairly quick character introductions and becomes focused the accomplishment of a simple goal, "U-571" is astoundingly well-paced. It's also Hollywood entertainment, which means that it should not be confused with a history lesson. Controversy has arisen about the film's decision to depict the main heroes as Americans, despite the fact that the first Enigma machines were actually captured by the British Navy. The film does include some end credit title cards to document these achievements, so it's at least managed to cover its bases, but to me, this controversy seems like much ado about nothing. Is anybody going to mistake "U-571" for a factual document? I hope not.
It's easy to complain about historical inaccuracies in an action film, just as it's easy to snipe at cardboard characters and a thin plot. In fact, after watching "U-571," there isn't a whole lot to say in its favor, at least not from a quantitative standpoint. I found that the film fell apart quite easily upon even a cursory reflection. But therein lay my problem: I was *thinking* too much. "U-571" is not the kind of film you have in-depth discussions on; it's the kind of film you watch and appreciate how much the armrest-grabbing suspense and spectacular action is making you forget you're watching trash. You're not in a movie theater; you're 200 meters below the surface, much deeper than the submarine was meant to go, the Nazis are dropping depth charges on your head, and you're scared as hell. That's where "U-571" shines. Jonathan Mostow hasn't made an intelligent, thought-provoking film out of "U-571," but he didn't try to. He just wanted to give us two hours of solid entertainment. That he has.
-reviewed by Shay Casey
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