Deepwater Horizon (2016), PG-13, ★★★

I don't recall the event of Deepwater Horizon having an accident and killing 11 men on the oil rig in 2010 but I do recall the impact that the accident has caused. The unfortunate event has caused a major oil spill, the worst in history, that lasted for 87 days and spilled over 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. But, also many people know it as the BP oil spill as executives were blamed for the decision for potentially inciting manslaughter but also making some questionable and rash decisions. But, even though the movie highlights the BP executives in the first half, the movie does not focus on the politics but on the event itself to provide both solid entertainment and a gripping disaster thriller.

Mike Williams (Mark Wahlberg) lives with his wife, Felicia (Kate Hudson) and their daughter, Sydney (Stella Allen). Before he leaves for the rig, Sydney asks Mike to bring her back a dinosaur tooth to back up her presentation up of saying that he works at an oil rig and he "tames the dinosaurs". He and Andrea Fleytas (Gina Rodriguez) arrive at the base to be taken to the oil rig, Deepwater Horizon. Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell) and a number of men join them for the job and they are all displeased by the work by the other team and their departure.

Jimmy meets with the bosses, Donald Vidrine (John Malkovich) and Robert Kaluza (Brad Leland), to discuss about the cement log. Jimmy wants them to a negative pressure test on the rig to make sure things flow nicely. The crew works by the drill to make sure the pipe line is all right. A little later, Don has them do a test from the kill line, with significantly better results. As the pipe has a large buildup of mud, it bursts, pushing the crew off their feet. The technicians manage to stop it but another pile of mud bursts into a hole, causing methane gasses to rise and the result is that their a big explosion on the rig. They need all the support they can get to depart from the rig immediately.

This movie is a technically impeccable film with sublime visual effects and scary sound design and mixing, causing you to believe that you are a participant near the oil rig surrounded by all the flames consuming the oil and other material. It is basically a more mature version of The Towering Inferno, with a bursted pipe causing the impact for people to get injured and crawl or walk out as fast as they can immediately. In a good chunk of the movie, it is Mark Wahlberg looking for survivors in hallways and in other places so they can be back with their families. But, I was fascinated by the movie because of its character set-up that in the end, I started to care for them and hardly, in a disaster flick, you care for someone that you do not want to see perish because you are having some corny fun with the material and there is a bit of that.

Mark Wahlberg gives another solid performance as a person on duty but also who cares enough for the people he works for and respects to get them out of the inflamed oil rig because they have families. Plus, he has a moment that gets you noticing on how good of an actor Wahlberg is. Kurt Russell, Gina Rodriguez and other character actors such as Ethan Suplee have good dynamic chemistry and you buy their camaraderie and respect for each other working in a rig. John Malkovich has that corny, somewhat villainous role in which he is from an another planet with a Cajun accent but you need a role like that is a disaster flick. Kate Hudson does have a thankless role as the wife who worries about him but she has more to do in a disaster film that leads you to believe.

Director Peter Berg can do true stories real well such as Friday Night Lights or Lone Survivor, another movie with Wahlberg. He crafts them impeccably with some camera shots and character-driven stories and backstories that sets up the whole foundation of the movie. Which character you care about will not make it in the end? is the question that will get you engaged in the story more than other disaster flicks. This movie is how true disaster stories should be told with good character setups and development with a haunting depiction of the event. Berg and Wahlberg treats the material with respect, diligence and seriousness.

***