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The Perfect Storm

year 2000decade 00sdirector Wolfgang Petersengenre Disastergenre Drama

130 minutes

Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

George Clooney Billy Tyne
Mark Wahlberg Bobby Shatford
John C. Reilly Dale "Murph" Murphy
Diane Lane Christina "Chris" Cotter
William Fichtner David "Sully" Sullivan
John Hawkes Michael "Bugsy" Moran
Allen Payne Alfred Pierre
Karen Allen Melissa Brown
Bob Gunton Alexander McAnally III
Michael Ironside Bob Brown
Cherry Jones Edie Bailey
Dash Mihok Sgt. Jeremy Mitchell

The Perfect Storm | The Rewatchables

host Bill Simmonshost Chris Ryan format 20th anniversary
Explore episodeClose episode

Producer credits not yet identified.

Most Rewatchable Scene

The wave crushing the boat

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:28:56Read transcript
  • The crow's nest scene where Clooney tells the crew they are going back out introduces Diane Lane and many characters.
  • The crow's nest bar is called the happiest bar ever on the North Shore; a real North Shore bar would be quiet, with Red Sox games on, smoking and drinking, a sign the director was not from there.
  • Clooney's speech to Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's Linda is another pick; he delivers it with no Boston accent, and the dialect coach is called one of the big losers of the movie.
  • The walkthrough also picks Wahlberg and Clooney together as the boat sets sail, Fickner saving Riley after he goes overboard, Clooney driving through the storm and blowtorching the anchor off, and Wahlberg saving John Hawks.
  • The boat flipping through a wave and the sun coming out, with Clooney saying they made it, is praised as heartbreaking because it is a false reprieve.
  • The most rewatchable scene is when the wave actually crushes them.
  • It is called the best scene in the movie, with a question whether "rewatchable" fits something so dark.
  • A first viewing without knowing the real story made the sun going back behind the clouds devastating; in 2000 the ending could still be kept secret.
  • The last hour is called really strong, though much of the Coast Guard material is not liked.

What’s Aged the Best?

Gloucester; Reed Rothschild and Dirk Diggler reunion; Wahlberg's accent, facial hair and attitude; smoking on deck; the music; the Riley-Fickner feud; crow's nest interactions; Ironside's payout scene

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:36:46Read transcript
  • Gloucester is picked as an underrated part of Massachusetts; the shooting locations are guessed as partly Dedham and largely Gloucester, and the crow's nest is thought to exist in real life.
  • Riley and Walberg reunite four years after Boogie Nights, framed as a Reed Rothschild and Dirk Diggler reunion.
  • A joke proposes a Jack Horner fake trailer recasting Perfect Storm footage as a Boogie Nights porn film.
  • Walberg's accent, facial hair and attitude are called a tour de force, and John Hawks is also mentioned.
  • The crew smoking cigarettes on deck is a favorite; the boat must have smelled terrible from dead fish and chili.
  • The music is praised for matching the tension on the boat.
  • The Riley-Fickner feud is liked because it is never explained, just two men sick of each other in close quarters, which adds tension; a deleted scene has Riley handing Fickner a phone with "a dead man on the other line."
  • Fickner is hard to see as anyone but his Armageddon character.
  • The early crow's nest interactions, including the old man at the bar telling war stories, are picked.
  • Ironside's payout scene shows how small the margins are and why the crew risks their lives to make rent.

What’s Aged the Worst?

Ironside's accent; Clooney's inconsistent accent; Riley's son; Diane Lane's accent and character

In the discussion (9)
Approx. transcript time · 00:42:09Read transcript
  • Ironside's accent is rough; a real Massachusetts actor, or even someone making no accent attempt, would have been better, with Dickie Barrett suggested.
  • Clooney's accent comes and goes and then disappears, and he never coordinated with Mastrantonio, while Walberg and John Hawks are committed to theirs.
  • John C. Riley's son is a pet peeve: the dad talks about how much the kid means, and the kid just stares blankly; a counterpoint says an eight-year-old would be intimidated.
  • Diane Lane's accent is called legendary and usually the first mentioned in worst-Boston-accent conversations, alongside Kevin Koster in 13 Days and Jeff Bridges in Blown Away.
  • Diane Lane is loved, but she is called too beautiful for the role, and nobody in Massachusetts ever acted like that.
  • A joke notes that both of these characters are named Chris, prompting a riff on Chrises from Massachusetts.
  • The character lacks a real flaw beyond hating when her boyfriend goes fishing, which makes Bobby leaving hard to believe.
  • The attempt is admired because the Boston accent is half attitude, but nothing about it feels authentic.
  • Her lines read like Hallmark speeches, such as the curtains and pillows from J.C. Pennies, and she is compared to the wet-blanket girlfriend from a sports movie.

Apex Mountain

No affirmative selection

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 00:56:01Read transcript
  • It is called the best Gloucester movie, and "Apex Mountain for Gloucester" is proposed.
  • John C. Raleigh, Wahlberg and Clooney are each ruled out.
  • A case for traditional-movie-star Clooney is floated with the expectation of pushback.
  • One view is that there is no Apex Mountain here other than biggest wave in a movie, offered with "I don't know."

Who Won the Movie?

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:19Read transcript
  • Peterson is picked for In the Line of Fire and for set pieces and structure that rise above the accents and sappiness, despite the unnecessary Coast Guard time.
  • The second pick rejects Peterson over the missing 91 Red Sox footage and Diane Lane's accent, choosing Wahlberg as the best character and performance, going toe to toe with Clooney and launching the next 20 years.
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Wolfgang Petersen
Speaker not identified
Mark Wahlberg