Wow, it's been that long already? ...Since the depicted incident, I mean. I don't recall the screen adaptation from an article being advertised when new, which may explain the poor box office performance despite rave reviews and award wins and nods. Regardless, I got curious to learn more.
In 2010, technician Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) says goodbye to wife Felicia (Kate Hudson) and starts work on the titular oil rig off the Louisiana coast. He and manager Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell) soon discover lots of problems, such as a nonfunctional phone system, and persuade the visiting stingy BP managers, Donald Vidrine (John Malkovich) and Robert Kaluza (Brad Leland), to approve more testing. The real trouble begins with a cement bond failure....
People talking about the disaster that year focused so much on the gulf pollution, you'd think there was nobody aboard the vessel when it happened. This movie covers the immediate human side of the catastrophe, with 11 dead, 17 wounded, and dozens more evacuated. It's almost like The Poseidon Adventure with more oil and fewer women, the most prominent being bridge officer Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez).
Exciting? Fairly. You never know when or where there's going to be another flying shard or fiery explosion. It feels a bit wrong to enjoy, tho, in light of the RL tragedy.
Informative? Also fairly. Some viewers appreciate how close the film hews to actual events and excuse instances of artistic license. Others complain that it doesn't accurately explain what caused the initial blow-up. Indeed, IMDb lists an unusual number of much-liked factual errors, and Wikipedia lists several more. Perhaps the most dangerous misinformation is in showing people jump from a high point with a life jacket on; rig staffers would know that that could kill them.
If nothing else, DN got me more attuned to the massive costs that came from trying to save on costs. I'd say the viewing was worth 107 minutes.
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