A film review by Mark O'Hara Copyright © 2001 Mark O'Hara

Just in time for Memorial Day Weekend of 2001, producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay have brought out PEARL HARBOR, their treatment of the sneak attack with which the Japanese military – according to one of their own admirals – "awakened the sleeping giant" of the United States.

It was the final catalyst that brought our country into the complicated global skirmish of the Second World War, which had been raging for more than two years across different continents. Needless to say, the attack on December 7, 1941, and the events surrounding it, would be difficult topics for any filmmaker. That director Michael Bay succeeds in many dimensions is most commendable; but the film is not the epic he has tried to engineer.

The opening scenes show a couple of tow-headed American boys in Tennessee in 1923, playing war in a dusty plane parked in a barn. We don't discover why this plane is abandoned when viable aviation had been around only ten years or so (could a plane get so dusty if it were used just five years before, in the Great War?). A charming little opening, the action has little Rafe McCawley (played as an adult by Ben Affleck) and Danny Walker (played later by Josh Hartnett) accidentally begin a take-off in a real plane, the crop duster belonging to Rafe's dad. Characterization kicks in when Danny's father starts to whup his little boy, and Rafe conks the offender with a board – from here on, Rafe is Danny's guardian, a role we know will be tested in the future.

Skip ahead to 1940-41, when the boys are young men and aspiring pilots for the Army Air Corps. In several of the scenes Bay and screenwriter Randall Wallace sketch their characters as likable and vibrant, but the rather slow-paced romance that develops between Rafe and Navy nurse Evelyn Johnson (Kate Beckinsdale) bogs down the story. Only the interesting historical background redeems the story in the first hour or so. We follow Rafe in his odyssey with the squadron of American pilots who flew with the British against the German Air Force – before any American declaration of war. We watch a few human interest plots develop out on Oahu, at the base at Pearl Harbor. Hawaii was thought to be a safe and distant outpost. But the Japanese Empire was pursuing their own military and industrial agendas, putting them on a collision course with the Pacific fleet of the United States.

When Rafe returns from his harrowing journey, his best friend has taken his girl, an old but still striking twist of events. Yes, there is turmoil among the three young and passionate people; but the attack that shook the world interrupts the love triangle, and provides us with very exciting action.

I was hoping that the film would take all necessary steps to preserve the dignity of all of the Americans who died in the raid, and all those who survived it. For the most part, this dignity comes out intact. Part of the hype surrounding this huge movie event, as a matter of fact, has been involvement with survivors, veterans now around 80 who are educating younger generations through interviews and television specials. In one scene, Colonel Jimmy Dolittle, the flying ace of the First World War who is now leading a raid on Tokyo, comments that victory will be ours. When he points to Rafe and Danny, we know that he is speaking of the entire generation of solid Americans who would exert whatever efforts required to defeat the Axis powers.

You have to hand it to Michael Bay. He knows what patriotic chords to strike, what heartstrings to pluck.

Perhaps the most affecting moments come when President Roosevelt, himself an icon to our eyes, reflects the iconography of the times. Jon Voight is very credible as the President (save for the foam padding lining his neck); when he delivers the ingenious rhetoric of Roosevelt and his policymakers ("Tell that to the Marines…") and especially when he struggles out of his wheelchair to argue a point, we sit enrapt and tingling with patriotism. Fortunately, Bay does not linger on sepia-tinted scenes of yesteryear, as he did in ARMAGEDDON, in which we were made to watch men sitting around traditional barber shops, listening to the radio, or children running through dust motes and past a mural of JFK still visible on clapboard stores 40 years after his election. Thank goodness this tone of mindless jingoism does not come through in PEARL.

Many of the shots remind us that Michael Bay got his chops directing videos that riveted the interest of MTV fans. At times the pace is frantic; in one sequence during the main attack, viewers are assaulted with at least 30 different shots in one minute. It is always a challenge to watch such a series of images; with any text that moves so quickly, the viewer must spend enormous energy just to make sense of the events. More viewings would be needed to notice the finer points of composition and detail.

The images are remarkable, though. In this new look at the attack, computer generation is used very well. Seeing such a large portion of the U.S. Pacific fleet at anchor inspires awe. It's a great recreation of the ships, and some of the best battle footage has the camera zooming straight through the strafing and bombing, the battleships exploding all around. Still, we see a fuzziness about the bottom of the shots, as if we are watching animated paintings of the conflict, perhaps an artist's grim and smoky depiction for the cover of a paperback novel. Dog fights are also supercharged by computer generated images. Tracers zip and scream everywhere, adding to the furor of the new war. No doubt many of the Zeros are digital replicas – but their sheer numbers are astounding (Japanese Commander Fuchida attacked with over 350 planes, and lost 29 to ground fire and a small pack of American pilots who managed to get aloft). It's hard to tell which explosions are enhanced, but the gore of the casualties lends realism in many scenes. At times Bay blurs the picture to simulate the chaos created by the carnage. We watch Evelyn and her fellow nurses scramble around the once-empty base hospital, now packed with panic-and pain-stricken soldiers and sailors. These shots are effectively crafted and arranged to evoke the mood of sudden tragedy.

Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett both deliver good performances. Their acting is transparent, and their brotherly relationship causes us to realize that they will go on as brothers despite loving the same woman. These actors do all that is asked of them, though some of it is telegraphed too early for my tastes; I got the bitter taste of predictability early, like a penny touched to the tongue.

Kate Beckinsdale does fine in filling her role; she is sufficiently at a loss when she discovers she must choose between the men she loves. An engaging subplot develops with Evelyn and her fellow nurses, and we are moved when the larger conflict encroaches upon their lives. A small rub: the long and flowing hairstyles of some of these women are laughable in a hospital setting.

Tom Sizemore and Dan Aykroyd are underused, as a gruff plane mechanic and a code-breaking specialist, respectively. Wonderful character actors, they are. The same can't be said of Alec Baldwin, a good actor given lines full of platitudes and feel-good bravado: thanks to the script, his Dolittle is a cardboard commanding officer of the type that Baldwin might himself mock on a future "Saturday Night Live."

It was very heartening to look around the theater and spot viewers of various ages. Early summer movies hoping to become blockbusters usually try to attract teenagers, a key to financial success at the box office. But I spotted several watchers who were children on that fateful Sunday morning of the actual attack. I can imagine the film will be used in middle and high school history classes, though the long running time would probably result in only scenes being shown. In any case, the PG-13 rating is warranted because of combat violence and language, with one love scene in which there is no nudity.

PEARL HARBOR falls short of epic status, though it does honor the men and women represented by these actors. Of course visual tribute is paid to the generation who lived through Pearl Harbor – in the devastating scenes of the battleships and other vessels buckled and sunk by torpedoes, in underwater shots of sailors and an American flag riddled with holes. The real Battleship Arizona appears at the end, its big guns encrusted with rust and plant life. In our image-conscious world, all of these shots helps to memorialize Americans who sacrificed their hearts and lives; but perhaps the best homage is paid through reminding young viewers about the identity of Americans, through reviving the history that helped to shape the world we live in every day.

	Running Time: 183 Min | Rated: PG-13 | US Release: May 25th | More >>

Related Links:

• Official Site
• www.pearlharborfilm.com
• Cinemenium.com: Pearl Harbor