U-571 review

If you believe U-571, Jonathan Mostow's submarine action romp set in the murky depths of World War II, the Americans were instrumental in the capture of the Enigma coding devices, used by the Germans to encrypt top secret messages.

The British barely feature in the war effort - it was the good ole Yankee boys leading the way, teaching Hitler a lesson or two with some well-placed torpedoes (the end credits reveal that it was in fact the Brits who captured the Enigma machines and ultimately deciphered the code. Fancy that!).

Such glaring lapses in historical accuracy litter Mostow's film, which throws all character and plot development overboard within the first five minutes and goes full steam ahead for sustained action.

Leading the good fight is Lieutenant Tyler (Matthew McConaughey), an ambitious officer recently passed over for a promotion by Lieutenant Commander Dahlgren (Bill Paxton), who doesn't think that Tyler would be prepared to sacrifice some of his crew for the sake of saving the rest.

When a German U-boat carrying one of the legendary Enigma machines is disabled in the Atlantic, the US navy enlists Dahlgren and Tyler to captain a submarine (disguised as a Nazi vessel) and board the stricken U-boat.

Their mission: to take possession of the device before a German rescue party arrives and then sink the submarine, so the Germans will never know they have been there. Tyler and several of his crew successfully board U-571 just moments before a German warship destroys the US sub, leaving the crew stranded aboard the stricken enemy sub. Having gained control of the vessel (by shooting anything that moves), Tyler assumes the helm and skilfully manoeuvres his new ship through treacherous enemy waters, pursued by a German destroyer with a seemingly infinite supply of ammo.

Most of the action sequences in U-571 involve Tyler and his crew taking the submarine to potentially fatal depths (cue lots of creaking from the battered hull and frequent flooding) to avoid the constant barrage of depth charges.

Mostow sustains the tension and claustrophobic atmosphere brilliantly within the sub, using lots of close-ups of the actor's sweat-drenched faces, and he manages to keep the visuals interesting by photographing the sub from every conceivable angle.

None of the men aboard U-571 have any real personality, and are solely defined in terms of their current predicament. McConaughey lacks charisma and never comes across as a potential leader of men, but strikes a convincing look of terror and fear when called for.

Ditto Harvey Keitel as his right-hand man Chief, who literally repeats McConaughey's lines, only twice as loud. Rocker Jon Bon Jovi has a brief role as a crew member who sadly doesn't survive the initial attack on the US sub.

As a big dumb action movie, U-571 delivers most of the requisite thrills and explosions with deceptive ease. For a more substantial and plausible portrait of life beneath the waves, Wolfgang Petersen's 1981 masterpiece Das Boot still reigns supreme.