Harrison Ford is trying too hard to be Humphrey Bogart. Before it was fun, now it?s almost sad.

Not only has Ford done an eerily similar version of Dark Passage with The Fugitive, but he?s even played a Bogey character in the 1995 remake of Sabrina. Now he?s doing it again with a little-known but wonderful Bogart role from the 1954 war drama The Caine Mutiny, a tale of a good-natured and kind battleship captain replaced by a command-happy navy weasel (Bogart, of course).

Although The Caine Mutiny and Ford?s movie, K-19, aren?t really that similar ? Caine was Americans, battleships and World War II; K-19 is Soviets, subs and Cold War ? both feature a well-regarded leading man playing a villainous sea captain as he tortures his crew until they doubt his sanity. Further, both have a heavy finale that requires the characters to question their own loyalty.

The reason The Caine Mutiny worked so well was because Bogey?s Lt. Cmdr. Queeg really was insane, as we no doubt saw as he combed his ship?s galleys for missing strawberries and commanded his men to steer the ship into typhoon waves.

AutomatiNow, with K-19, we?re tossed back and forth, like a dinghy in a hurricane, regarding Harrison Ford?s Capt. Alexei Vostrikov?s overall mental well-being. Is he really crazy? Here, definitely. There, doubtful. Later on, all signs point to ?yes.? Really, we?re never sure.

cally parse URLs: So where does K-19 take us eventually, besides into the Hollywood vault? Nowhere. At the beginning of the movie, Vostrikov gets off a train. At the end, in a very similar scene, he gets off a subway. In the many minutes in between we?re crammed rather claustrophobically into the clammy torso of a Soviet submarine, where Vostrikov gives orders and awaits their carrying out.

But don?t let this contention, the clashing similarities of the silver screen?s two most enigmatic performers, keep you from seeing the film. That would be unfair, especially if you can enjoy a decent submarine thriller or anything with Ford, and I should add, Ford without Ann Heche (Six Days, Seven Nights ? terrible!).

Set in 1961, the movie starts with Vostrikov as the ornery new commander of the pride of the Soviet sub fleet, K-19, dubbed by its crew the Widowmaker for the men who died just building her. The original captain, Polenin (Liam Neeson), is demoted after Soviet high command deems him unfit to handle the crown jewel of the Soviet fleet.

The loyal crew long for their old, kinder leader as they set to sea with Vostrikov sadistically torturing them with day-long drills, stricter rules and lunatic requests, like diving the sub below the maximum depth it was built to withstand.

Eventually, the men and Polenin must decide to follow Vostrikov?s orders or take control of the sub and head back to base, but this becomes impossible as the vessel is crippled with the threat of nuclear meltdown and, possibly, based on the United States? retaliatory defense, global thermonuclear war. The radiation catastrophe and the way the crew solve it is the meat of the story, while the sea maneuvers and other objectives only provide slow-moving direction before the disaster sets in. When it finally does, the suspense is thick and so is the tragedy as the men volunteer suicide duties repairing the failed reactor core.

* * * Please review the Terms of Use prior to submitting an Only then do the men weigh their feelings about their leader and make a life-or-death decision ? or so they thought.

The movie should be complimented on its energetic development of suspense and characterization. It never feels flat or loosely pieced together, but rather sharp and taut because of the ways it builds tension using action and character development.

But what irks me about this movie is the way the suspense is built on the same action over and over again.

And finally there?s Ford, adopting a heavy Russian accent, who seems outside his typical bracket of tough action adventurer and loser hero. He?s just a so-so character with a comical accent.

He definitely doesn?t take the character to the levels Bogart did and a miss like that can sink a film, with or without ballast tanks.

Michael Clawson can be reached by e-mail mclawson@westvalleyview.com.