K-19: The Widowmaker tells the true story of Russia's first nuclear ballistic submarine, which suffered a malfunction in its lone nuclear reactor on its first voyage in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1961. The malfunction almost leads to nuclear war between the world powers. Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson star as captain and co captain on the title submarine.
The submarine movie sub-genre has always been a popular commodity. Movies like Crimson Tide and U-571 were fairly big moneymakers during their theatrical runs and Paramount no doubt knows this fact. Therefore, it's not really surprising that they are now releasing K-19: The Widowmaker, the newest submarine film to hit theaters. To insure a solid box office, Paramount paid Harrison Ford 25 million dollars to appear in this film. Does their high-priced strategy make for an engaging movie going experience? Direction by Kathryn Bigelow (Strange Days) is fine except she occasionally struggles with pacing in the last half of the film. She aptly recreates the political turmoil that was ever-present in the year of 1961. Bigelow also manages to create a sense of claustrophobia and fright within the limited environment without the submarine actually firing one missile at an enemy. Also noteworthy is the subplot about the possibility of the men being exposed to radiation if the reactor were to blow. This particular subplot is handled well and certainly better than it could have in the hands of an inexperienced director. But, as I mentioned earlier, the film loses some of its luster in the last half hour because the film slows to a crawl as it explains the aftermath of the situation in the most laborious possible way.
Harrison Ford, reportedly paid 25 million for this film, is good as captain Alexi Vostrikov because he basically plays himself in the way the captain is serious and a always business type of person. Liam Neeson doesn't perform as well in his role. He was too passive for my liking and therefore the shouting matches he had with Ford didn't come off as well as they would have had he put more energy into his performance. Supporting performance given by Peter Sarsgaard is efficient and Sarsgaard controls the screen when he has the chance but doesn't descend into a scenery chewing performance.
Overall, despite some problems with pacing, K-19: The Widowmaker remains a well-made and thought-provoking film replete with good acting by a well-known cast.
Rating: 84
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