Black Sea

Have you ever noticed how dark appearing submarine films are and can be? Think about it, we have "Das Boot" '81, "U-571" 2000, "The Hunt for Red October" '90, "Crimson Tide" '95 and the like. It might be because they're shot in an enclosed environment and/or that these films typically have a tension-filled plot, so 'dark' might give a better look and feel to the films. This must be true because then why would "Black Sea" be shot in that similar way?

Through Daniels (Scoot McNairy), Captain Robinson (Jude Law) meets potential financial backer Fraser (Ben Mendelsohn) so as to seek out a fortune in gold. According to Daniels, there is a fortune aboard a WWII German U-boat on the floor of the Black Sea for the taking. So, Fraser plans on taking his part of it once found for backing the mission. Robinson agrees and puts together a misfit crew including Daniels, Reynolds (Michael Smiley), Kurston (Daniel Ryan), Tobin (Bobby Schofield) and others to go after the sunken treasure. As greed and desperation take control onboard their claustrophobic vessel, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other to fight for their own survival. This crew comprised of both English and Russian might just have bitten off more than they can chew.

Others to round out the cast are David Trelfall, Konstantin Khabenskiy as Blackie, Sergey Puskepalis as Zaytsev, Branwell Donaghey as Gittens, Tobias Menzies as Lewis, Karl Davies as Liam, all other crew members, and Jodie Whittaker as Chrissy.

This was directed with such clarity, grit and intensity by veteran Kevin MacDonald ("Chaplin's Goliath" (Documentary) '96, "One Day in September" (Documentary) '99, "Touching the Void" (Documentary) '03, "The Last King of Scotland" '06, "State of Play" '09, "The Eagle" '11, "Marley" (Documentary) '12, "How I Live Now" '13, "Christmas in a Day" (Documentary) '13). With all the documentaries this guy has done, making this film looked almost as a documentary, if not a story based on a true facts was not a stretch for him to pull off, but this was based in pure fiction, which is interesting considering his resume. Considering this writer's lack of feature film writing, Dennis Kelly did an exquisite job with this story of this crew trying to survive each other than just the Black Sea itself. Sure, it wasn't an Oscar worthy script, but I've seen worse screenplays by exceedingly more experienced screenwriters than with Kelly. He's got the talent; he just needs more work to hone this raw talent. I've never seen Law more intense than he was in this.

The eclectic cast in this film will keep you riveted while you're watching this story unfold, wondering if they're going to kill each other before they even find the gold. Even if submarine films aren't your thing, the chemistry between all these guys is something you can't miss.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                Rated: R                                 114mins.