Based off of true events, this movie is about the explosion of the offshore oil rig, Deepwater Horizon, that exploded in April of 2010 which ended up being one of the worst oil spills in US history. Mike Williams, played by Mark Wahlberg, was the chief electrical engineer on the oil rig and Jimmy Harrell, played by Kurt Russell, was the general operational supervisor.
The movie starts by showing some insight to the characters’ lives, like Mike Williams and another crew member Andrea Fleytas, played by Gina Rodriguez, which is the attempt to make the story more personal. The first half of the movie you really just see what the workers are doing and what their job is on the oil rig. I personally didn’t understand some of their technical equipment talk, nor did I really care for it.
You learn right away that the rig is way behind schedule and BP (multinational oil and gas company), who at the time was also leasing the rig, has some company men aboard who are trying to get the rig back on schedule. The BP men seem to try and cut corners by skipping some important tests that will determine if the rig is doing okay and is still safe, but Jimmy Harrell basically gives them no option and pushes them to allow the test to proceed. The movie seems to put the blame on what happens next mostly on BP’s company man Donald Vidrine, played by John Malkovich.
Without giving too much away, of course most people probably know how this movie ends seeing as it was broadcasted seven years ago and almost anyone can access the internet, the intensity of the situation skyrocketed. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie despite not understanding some of their equipment and recommend it if you enjoy suspenseful action movies. (9/10)