Pearl Harbor
Day of Infamy
Grade: B
Epic in scope and ambition, in the course of its three-hour-plus running time Pearl Harbor encompasses the outbreak of World War II, the Battle of Britain, America’s entry into the war following the titular sneak attack and the ramping up of the war in the Pacific. The centerpiece is, of course, the devastation of the Hawaiian naval base, delivered with ferocious intensity through sophisticated and fairly believable computer generated images, incendiaries, and special effects (some of which evoke Titanic, such as when sailors cling to the deck of a slowly capsizing ship and when rising water levels displace the air in a compartment, slowly drowning the trapped occupants). Pearl Harbor’s forte is its riveting depiction of the horror, confusion and carnage of the battle. The film's defining moment is a bomb’s-eye-view of the blast that literally rips the U.S.S. Arizona in half; seen from the projectile's P.O.V., it drops from the bombays, plows through several riveted floors of the ship, and comes to rest in an ammo room for a heartstopping moment before sending a thousand sailors plunging to watery graves. Although there are plenty of casualties and flying bodies, in keeping with the PG-13 rating, there’s little explicit carnage—less than Enemy at the Gates, and not even close to the gut-churning mayhem of Saving Private Ryan. A fuzzy, Vaselined lens and handheld camera accentuate the chaotic triage in the base hospital during the attack.
But Pearl Harbor misses the boat when tries to be all things to all people; in its non-battle scenes, the pic indulges in melodrama and banal dialogue. The fighter-pilot leads (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) are thinly-drawn, fearless superheroes, a sappy, drawn-out romantic triangle dawdles, and contrived scenes of high-level military-political strategizing are tossed in. Again with the family-friendly rating in mind, a sex scene is avoided by having Affleck back off from consummating the romance the night before he ships out, mouthing platitudes about wanting to carry a perfect memory of her with him.
In case you’ve been
sequestered in a submarine for the last few months, this staggeringly-hyped $135 million
production comes to us courtesy of Walt Disney and the director-producer team of Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer,
whose action-packed oeuvre includes The Rock and Armageddon.
So it’s perhaps not surprising that Pearl Harbor excels technically
but delivers little in the way of realism or depth in its human
interactions. That’s not entirely the case, though. The sloe-eyed object of the fly-guys’
affections is a nurse played by Kate Beckinsale (The
Last Days of Disco, Brokedown Palace, The Golden Bowl), a
credible actress with a beguiling combination of classic beauty and
natural grace. But she's saddled with lines like, "All I've
ever wanted is for us to grow old 
together." The most engaging character,
in a regrettably minor role, is a ship's cook, played by Cuba Gooding
Jr., who earns his mates' respect as a poop deck pugilist and who courageously mans an
antiaircraft gun during the attack. He’s a true man of honor.
Pearl Harbor is fairly accurate historically, with iconic, jowly Franklin Roosevelt (Jon Voight) gravely intoning "a date which will live in infamy" and resolute Japanese commander Yamamoto, who frets, "I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant." Alec Baldwin plays Jimmy Doolittle, who engineers a daring counterattack on Tokyo, but his exhortations are facile platitudes. Even some accurate small details are included, such as the Navy's assumption when the approaching planes are picked up on radar that they are American B-17s arriving from the mainland, and the sinking of a Japanese sub just before the attack. Yet at 7 a.m. on a Sunday, officers are in the midst of a round of golf and boys are out on the baseball diamond. And there are outright fabrications, such as when the heroes take on 350 Japanese Zeroes singlehandedly and emerge unscathed, and the scene in which FDR struggles painfully to rise from his wheelchair to confront military brass who balk at his command to exact revenge.
Those jaded critics who will heap scorn on Pearl Harbor as overtly manipulative (and there will be many) would do well to reflect on the fact that all movies are manipulative--the question is how you like your manipulation. Pearl Harbor is rich enough in its detail and realism to catapult the viewer into the momentous events that reshaped the world over half a century ago. It will be the summer blockbuster it was carefully designed to be, and more--it will live on as a chilling reminder of the drama, sacrifice and shattering impact of the Second World War. That's a message that cannot be forgotten, especially by those who've never been closer to a real war than a movie theater. For all its flaws, Pearl Harbor serves that purpose admirably, and it deserves a full measure of respect.
Directed by Michael Bay. Written by Randall Wallace. Running time 3:05. Rated PG-13.