Phantom (2013)

I just couldn't get past the American actors playing the Russians...with no Russian accents. At all. Completely American in every way..except they were supposed to be Russian. What were they thinking?

Now the widowmakers are finally being haunted in this, "K-19 II: The Phantom". Well, this is probably more like "The Perfect Storm II: The Soviets at Sea", because this film just kind of makes up a plot surrounding a mysteriously lost, true story that people have kind of forgotten about, even though it claims to be based-oh, I mean, "inspired" by "true" events. I've heard that line attached to the promotion of so many bogus haunted house films which claimed to be "inspired by true events" that I can't say that I'm all that surprised by the fact that this is a loose historical drama, though that's not to say that you shouldn't go into this film expecting it to live up to its title and actually feature something as exciting as a phantom, no matter how much David Duchovny acts like he's still in "The X-Files". No, people, this film is alright and all, but I stand by my comparing this film more to Wolfgang Petersen films outside of "Das Boot", not just because that film is about Germans, takes place during WWII, is less predictable, is more fleshed out and is two-to-three hours longer than this film, - depending on which version of "Das Boot" you see - but because this film is decidedly not as good as "Das Boot"... and doesn't feature people actually doing the right accent. Granted, "Das Boot" really did feature German actors, so of course they were going to be masters of German accents, but this film about "Russians" is perhaps most like the Wolfgang Petersen film "Outbreak", because it furthers it epidemic, the one regarding American actors' being too lazy to attempt different accents. Oh hey, there was little attempt being put into taking on Russian accents in "K-19: The Widowmaker", so this really is most like "K-19 II: The Phantom", unless, of course, you want to consider it Todd Robinson's follow-up to "Lonely Hearts", seeing as how this film is bound to be as forgotten as Robinson's last thriller. Forget y'all, I still thought "Lonely Hearts" was pretty good, but this film, on the other hand, stands to be more than just decent, and perhaps would have been were it not for its having plenty of issues.

You would think that complaints regarding a lack of Russian accents from our leads would be a nitpick and not seem like a big deal, and sure, when it comes to the quality of the acting, it's not, but the American accents distance not only the believability of the film's setting, but your investment in the distinct conflicts that the leads of this film face as Russians during the Cold War - when Communism and conflicts with, of all people, the Americans were as alive as they were in any country in the world around this time - by serving as an instrumental component in the establishment of characters who you cannot fully associate with this subject matter, due to its not being compatible with characters of this, if you will, nationality. If nothing else is offputting about the lack of Russian accents, it's simply the storytelling decision's being a glaring reflection of directorial laziness that borders on embarrassing, maybe even incompetent, which isn't to say that laziness within Todd Robinson's generally rather ambitious storytelling ends there, because even when you look at the script, Robinson retards momentum with repetitious and often meandering fat around the edges of story structure that are made all the more glaring by atmospheric dry spells that, while never really all that dull, bland things up, and prove to be much too recurring for their own good. Even the pick-ups in tension feel rather held back, but more often than not, it's the steadier moments in this drama that you have to worry about, and you can rest assured that there are plenty of those, thus, the final product feels rather limp, as surely as it feels undercooked, as irony would have it, featuring expository depth that is limited within the heads of this small and potentially very accessible cast, and all but thinned into nonexistence when it comes to the secondary leads. The film is underdeveloped, and it's hard not to blame Robinson's writing for that, because as if the limp moments in story structure, as well as fall-flat moments in dialogue, aren't problematic enough, characterization is thin, crafting character types who end up running together, carrying predictable fates behind them, thus leaving the final product to fall short of potential even as a character piece. If nothing else, the near-trite characterization reflects the other near-trite areas in this film's storytelling, which follows a formulaic path in a bland fashion that leaves you to not only meditate upon the natural shortcomings which you can imagine are found within this drama of only 100 minutes, but leave the final product to feel like not much more than another piece in a pile of films of its type. There's not particularly bad about that, because the film is ultimately likable, largely because it is inspired enough to earn your investment at times, but the areas that go tainted by laziness are impossible miss, going into producing an undercooked, formulaic and ultimately rather bland drama that I can't promise will be all that memorable by any means. That being said, while the film is occupying its time, expect most every moment in which your investment is shaken to be met by a moment that helps in keeping you going.

Quite honestly, Jeff Rona's score is not without its problems, and they're not always the doing of Rona himself, for although the conventionalism and occasional piece of overstylization within Rona's compositions throw you off a bit, Todd Robinson's cheesily near-abusive usage of the compositions in the context of storytelling help greatly in keeping the overbearing atmospheric areas pumping, while betraying the quality of Rona's efforts, which is, in fact, still rich enough for you to appreciate this film's score more often than not, particularly when the thoughtful, yet somewhat intense kick to Rona's noble efforts are played up at the right moment to flavor up the atmospheric effectiveness of the film, rather than do it injustice. Sure, outside of Rona's efforts and the occasional pretty point in Byron Werner's generally kind of flat cinematography, there's not much in the way of artistic punch-up to compliment within this project, but if there is entertainment value within the film it is typically anchored by the flavorful musical efforts of Rona. There are highlights in style, but it's substance that needs to be most worried about in this drama, so the film stands at great risk of collapse into mediocrity, because its storytelling is faulty, but not so faulty that you're blind to a certain intrigue to this film's subject matter dealing with a dramatization of Soviet men of the Navy facing great internal and external conflicts to keep a raise in warfare at bay, for although the value of this story concept is often betrayed, its presence breathes life into a bit of immediate intrigue, which is then fed by inspired areas in storytelling, or at least acting. There's so little for our performers to work with that they don't even have Russian accents, and that really hurts the effectiveness of our leads as components to the convincingness of this character study, yet the leads ultimately all but compensate, because even though David Duchovny seems to be a touch bland, most everyone has a high point in dramatic acting, with leading man Ed Harris more-or-less carrying the film with a certain distinguished charisma that convinces you of his Captain Demi character's leadership, until broken up by a subtly striking moment of emoting that sells you on the human depths of our primary lead and helps considerably in reinforcing your investment. Harris' performance is too underwritten to be outstanding, but it's a particularly fleshed out and inspired beat within an acting department that is all but populated by decent, if not borderline strong performances, and while the acting can do only so much to compensate for the directorial shortcomings, they anchor this drama, though not alone. As problematic as Todd Robinson's efforts as both writer and director are throughout this somewhat lazy project, when ambition becomes inspiration, effectiveness is, well, not too hard to deny, because Robinson's missteps really do do some damage, but not so much so that those willing to run with this film aren't bound to run into moments of genuine compellingness that convince you on the claustrophobia and, in some cases, intensity of this thriller. If Robinson succeeds at doing nothing else, it is keeping entertainment value from ever slipping too much, for although the film is a bit bland, it rarely, if ever dulls down so much that you can ignore the things that are done right, of which there are enough to make an enjoyable, if underwhelming thriller.

Overall, the lack of Russian accents distance you from the effectiveness of characterization enough without being accompanied by underdevelopment which reflects a certain hurrying in storytelling, broken up by many a slow spell that, alongside genericism, bland up storytelling enough for the final product to slip into underwhelmingness, but not quite into mediocrity, thanks to lively score work, a reasonably intriguing story concept, decent acting, - particularly from leading man Ed Harris - and enough entertaining, if not dramatically effective highlights in directorial storytelling to make Todd Robinson's "Phantom" a decent piece of filler within the submarine film sub-industry, at least while you can still remember it.

2.5/5 - Fair