Rated: PG 13
Running Time: 3 hours, 3 minutes
Tabitha's Rating:**/5
Synopsis:
Two best friends who fall in the love with the same nurse are pilots
during the WWII Pearl Harbor attack.
Yes, the main actors in Pearl Harbor (Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett,
and Kate Beckinsale) are hot, but is that enough to make this loooong movie
fly by enjoyably? Not even close.
Part of the problem was the
pre-release build up of the film in attempt to have America anticipating
a Titanic type of drama mixed with romance that would have everyone
running to the box office opening night. Since Memorial Day 2000,
trailers had been played on nearly every movie advertising the Memorial Day
2001 release. Worst of all, as the release neared, television programs
and magazines alike predicted, without yet having seen the film, that
it would be like the gigantic 1997 film no one can forget, Titanic.
They even went so far as to say that Ben Affleck would be launched into
Leonardo Dicaprio, post Titanic, success due to Pearl Harbor. Of course
as soon as the film came out, expectations were far from met by the
public and critics alike.
The problems with the film itself was
mainly the romance portion which took up the majority of this
3 hour plus film. Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale didn't hold a candle
to Leo and Kate Winslet. And for that matter, Josh Hartnett and Kate
Beckinsale were certainly no Jack and Rose either. The entire love
story was completely predictable. Best friend impregnates the girlfriend
of the deceased frined who, miraculously, comes back to life. Come on,
is this a daytime soap opera, or a major motion picture?
The
film however, does pick up during the actual attack on Pearl Harbor sequence.
The special effects were riveting, and it completely pulled my
emotions from boredom to tears streaming down my face. This had a lot
to do with the fact that you were no longer watching the story of a
"love" triangle, but a recreation of actual events that happened to actual
American soldiers. And thumbs up to Cuba, who played a man from the real ordeal.
But back to bad again.
The movie could have done without the ending special mission, which, in real life
no pearl harbor pilots were involved in. Also cheesy was the president's
scene in which he stands up, though in a wheelchair. The actual Roosevelt
was not inclined to being so open and talking about his disability.
Bottomline: Cut out everything except the Pearl Harbor attack, and you've
got something worth watching.
