The first few minutes of the movie are occupied with one of those hokey childhood friends sequences. We meet Rafe and Danny who spend their time playing at flying. Flash forward many years and we find the two still together but now as Army fighter pilots. During this part of the movie Rafe (Ben Affleck) meets and falls hard for the nurse Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale). They are separated when he volunteers for a small unit of American pilots assisting the British in fighting the Germans. Meanwhile Evelyn and Danny (Josh Hartnett) are reassigned to the Pearl Harbor base in Hawaii. They learn that Rafe was shot down off the coast of Britain and is presumed dead. Naturally they come together in grief and before you know it they're a couple.
Did you notice that I used the phrase "presumed dead?" There's a reason for it and I'm sure you can figure it out. Now all that I've described here (and a bit more) take about ninety minutes to unfold. That's an entire movie and we haven't even come to the battle that this movie is supposedly about. The movie's biggest flaw is that the love triangle simply doesn't work. Affleck throws his best into his role and we can almost sympathize with him. Beckinsale and Hartnett though are given little to do by the script except look pretty. This they accomplish but add nothing else.
The initial romance between Rafe and Evelyn works fairly well but as things grow more complicated any scrap of goodwill created early is hopelessly lost. Rafe we could at least respect because though a bit cocky, he almost desperately dedicates himself to his country. Evelyn though offers us nothing apart from eye candy. Danny is equally as empty a character and Hartnett is hopelessly out classed by Affleck. Apart from looking the part I'm really not sure how he got it. Of course even De Niro couldn't deliver some of this dialog and get respect. It's frequently relentless in its corniness.
Eventually the attack on Pearl Harbor arrives and for the next forty minutes the movie suddenly comes into its own. The assault is overwhelming and on an immense scale. The digital effects are seamless and really help to hammer home the scale of the event. American forces took a brutal pounding that day and this sequence runs in near real time to capture the entire battle. The sight of the USS Arizona being hit so hard that nearly rips in two is frightening. The sight of the USS Oklahoma rolling over due to extensive damage is horrific.
Unfortunately the battle eventually comes to an end. I don't say unfortunately because I wanted to witness even more carnage. I say unfortunately because it means the return of the love triangle and somehow it actually seems to get worse, draining away the emotions built up during the massive battle. The story then skips forward several months to incorporate the Doolittle bombing raids into the story in an attempt to add a somewhat happy ending to the story of such a tragic event. This part of the movie, when it can separate itself from the soap opera love story, is quite effective and could actually make a solid movie on its own.
Despite my gripings I do have a few positive things to say about the acting. I mentioned that Affleck works very hard. Jon Voight though turns in easily the best performance as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He nails the voice and mannerisms and with help of some great makeup actually looks eerily like FDR. Cuba Gooding Jr. has a small role as the real life navy cook Dorie Miller who fought courageously at the battle despite the navy's rules of the time prohibiting blacks from touching weapons. It's a character highly reminiscent of the one Gooding played in Men of Honor. Unfortunately he gets little time on screen and we are deprived of more of a top notch performance.
The movie serves up what can best be described as a highly sanitized and glossed over description of the real life events. It's likely that this movie can be shown in Japan without fear of complaint. The movie's villains aren't portrayed in any way as evil. They seem to be attacking principally to defend their flow of oil. The American reluctance to join the war is given little attention. Basically this story shouldn't be taken as historical gospel, although Hollywood movies never should be.
Basically I'm split in my thoughts on the movie. The romantic side of the movie was very poorly handled. The Danny character could have been easily axed from this story, resulting in a much shorter running time and the elimination of the stories worst fault, the love triangle. But the battle itself is staggeringly impressive. If you can watch it and not feel real appreciation for the sacrifice made by those soldiers then I have to wonder where you lost your soul. This is a summer blockbuster that wanted to be something special. It wanted to be serious and remembered forever. Unfortunately the script lets it down, chaining it down and preventing it from becoming the rare big budget movie that offers us more than big explosions.
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