Russian sub movie flawed but entertaining

K-19: The Widowmaker

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Cast: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard

Cert: 12PG.

Another Soviet sub in trouble.

With the tragic fate of the Kursk still in our minds, we return in time to the days of the Cold War when another Russian submarine found itself in deep water over a nuclear reactor facing meltdown.

This "based on a true story" film has been much criticised, both by the survivors themselves and by the Stateside reviewers, but it really isn't as bad as this suggests, even if it does have its flaws.

The K-19 was sent to sea, as the flagship of the Soviet navy, in the l960s - and it shouldn't have been. It was ill-prepared in almost every respect and on top of the countless technical weaknesses there was a potentially fatal situation created by the authorities when they replaced the popular Captain Mikhail Polenin (Neeson), who had refused to take the sub out until it was ready, with the charmless rule-book Captain Alexei Voctrikov (Ford).

The story follows the gallant efforts of the crew to save their ship and the world from a nuclear disaster, and in this telling of a remarkable episode, director Bigelow delivers on most of the promises.

She captures the tension - even if it runs out of steam towards the end - and the cramped conditions, she captures the personal tensions between the two Captains (with Neeson coming across as the more humane of the two and Ford coming across as merely, well, cross). There are times when Ford on screen can almost underplay his roles, bringing to them less emotional involvement than required. Here, he is stern, unyielding and over-demanding.

But it is, overall, not a bad, thrilling film. You will have seen much worse on your trips to the movies.

Star Rating: 4/5