Written by Linda
January 11, 2009
In the grand tradition of "modern epics where you already know how it ends" (think Titanic), along comes Pearl Harbor, the most anticipated summer movie of the year. I know know that regardless of anything I say here, everyone on the planet will go see this film, thanks to a brilliant months-in-advance teaser advertising campaign. It is your duty to our veterans (the ads seem to say) to honor them by seeing this flick. Well, just look at it this way: every summer needs a true blockbuster, and I think all bets are (rightly) placed on this film.
The best that can be said about Pearl Harbor is that it isn't a shameful embarrassment to movie-making (think the U.S. Godzilla remake); the worst is that it is a completely forgettable cornball crowd-pleaser that is dreadfully in need of a good editor and screenwriter.
In the best Hollywood tradition, the plot centers around a love triangle: two best boyhood friends (introduced with golden-hued Tennessee-childhood flashbacks) Rafe and Danny (Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett) are hot-shot military flyboys that are in love with the same woman, Army nurse Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale). Not much else needs to be said about this, except that the various romantic entanglements (within this triangle, as well as the romances of their chorus of friends that follow them through the story) include separation by distance, war, and even death... in the way that within the first few minutes of the film, the audience can simply place its bets on who will end up with who when the heartstring-tugging finale finally arrives hours later.
The leads are good-looking and inoffensive. Ben Affleck seems to be dumbing-down his personality with Rafe's aw-shucks persona and Hallmark-card declarations, which is a real shame because I think he can be such a smart actor (see Chasing Amy). Josh Hartnett (who, thankfully, has finally overcome his incredibly distracting bed-head problem that plagued him in The Faculty and Halloween: H2O) is surprisingly appealing as Danny, the shyer and more withdrawn of the two friends. And Kate Beckinsale just doesn't have much to do except shield her eyes every other scene and look pensive, worried, forlorn, or radiant (see the movie poster). The supporting cast offers a few cameo surprises, like Alec Baldwin as Doolittle, the legendary fighter pilot, Dan Ackroyd as a code-cracking intelligence officer, and a completely unrecognizable Jon Voight a FDR himself.
Pearl Harbor is the true modern blockbuster: it is harmlessly shallow, has lots of explosions, and is surprisingly earnest in its attempts to be politically correct, regardless of the true social climate of the era in which it takes place. It is really three movies in one: an hour and a half love story, 45 minutes of the namesake attack, and another unnecessary hour tacked on afterwards just let you know that the good guys DO win at the end (in case you fell asleep during History). I really wouldn't fault anyone for leaving at the end of the bombing sequence.... If you want to know who gets the girl, just ask, and I'll whisper it in your ear!
