Based on actual events, which took place at the height of the Cold War in 1961, K19 The Widowmaker tells the story of the eponymous submarine, the first nuclear powered vessel in the Russian fleet. The boat was commanded by Captain Alexei Vostrikov (Harrison Ford), whose appointment relegated the ship's original captain, Mikhail Polenin (Neeson), to that of First Officer. In a bid to prove himself to the crew and boost their confidence, Vostrikov demanded that the crew undertake some reckless manoeuvres. However, his plan backfired as the boat suffered severe malfunctions, with the main reactor in danger of overheating and exploding.
While K19 The Widowmaker is a competent thriller, its slavish adherence to the conventional Hollywood notions of morality fatally undermine the piece. Bigelow is desperate that we never forget how heroic these men were and uses every available opportunity to ram the point home. Thus, the polemics between Vostrikov and Polenin is never satisfactorily explored and the director's tendency to tie everything up in neat emotional packages doesn't do much for the overall impact. Still, if you can get past this, The Widowmaker is diverting viewing, without ever being truly gripping. Rent Das Boot if you're after a real submarine movie.
