Black Sea (15.)
Directed by Kevin MacDonald.
Starring Jude Law, Grigoriy Dobrygin, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Michael Smiley and David Threlfall. 115 mins
You can't really go wrong with a submarine drama; they're one of the few times straight men can watch groups of sweaty, desperate men in confined surroundings without feeling confused or threatened. And Black Sea doesn't go wrong, but considering its pedigree – the director of Touching The Void, the writer of C4's Utopia and an impressive cast – it maybe doesn't quite go right enough.
Like a Wild Geese for the financial downturn, it gathers up a crew of middle aged professional seamen who have been squeezed dry and let go by the cold-hearted private contractors now running the industry. After getting laid off, Captain Robinson (Law) hears a tale about the wreck of a sub filled with Nazi gold on the floor of the Black Sea. He gathers together some independent backing, a battered old sub and a crew that is a mix (as it turns out a rather combustible mix) of Russians and Brits, plus one colonial (Mendelsohn) and dives down in search of it.
Despite some effective twists and turns it never really grips. The sub interiors are not quite claustrophobic enough and the exteriors in the dark and murky depths of the sea are dark and murky in a way that suggests lack of money rather than authenticity. It's been 25 years since The Abyss and James Cameron's pioneering work in underwater photography has done few favours for the makers of low budget submarine dramas.
Although there was no compelling reason for the character to be so, Law's captain is Scottish. Does Jude Law convince as a salty Scottish sea captain? Possibly not entirely, though to my sassenach ears the accent didn't sound too terrible. It did though give the impression that he was being asked by the producers to make up for their failure to get Gerard Butler for the role.
Black Sea (15.)
Directed by Kevin MacDonald.
Starring Jude Law, Grigoriy Dobrygin, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Michael Smiley and David Threlfall. 115 mins
You can't really go wrong with a submarine drama; they're one of the few times straight men can watch groups of sweaty, desperate men in confined surroundings without feeling confused or threatened. And Black Sea doesn't go wrong, but considering its pedigree – the director of Touching The Void, the writer of C4's Utopia and an impressive cast – it maybe doesn't quite go right enough.
Like a Wild Geese for the financial downturn, it gathers up a crew of middle aged professional seamen who have been squeezed dry and let go by the cold-hearted private contractors now running the industry. After getting laid off, Captain Robinson (Law) hears a tale about the wreck of a sub filled with Nazi gold on the floor of the Black Sea. He gathers together some independent backing, a battered old sub and a crew that is a mix (as it turns out a rather combustible mix) of Russians and Brits, plus one colonial (Mendelsohn) and dives down in search of it.
Despite some effective twists and turns it never really grips. The sub interiors are not quite claustrophobic enough and the exteriors in the dark and murky depths of the sea are dark and murky in a way that suggests lack of money rather than authenticity. It's been 25 years since The Abyss and James Cameron's pioneering work in underwater photography has done few favours for the makers of low budget submarine dramas.
Although there was no compelling reason for the character to be so, Law's captain is Scottish. Does Jude Law convince as a salty Scottish sea captain? Possibly not entirely, though to my sassenach ears the accent didn't sound too terrible. It did though give the impression that he was being asked by the producers to make up for their failure to get Gerard Butler for the role.
