White Squall (1996)

	Directed by: Ridley Scott	COUNTRY USA GENRE Drama/Survival NORWEGIAN TITLE Hvitt hav RUNNING TIME 129 minutes
	Produced by: Mimi Polk Gitlin Rocky Lang
	Written by: Todd Robinson

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Captain Christopher "Skipper" Sheldon	Jeff Bridges	½
Alice Sheldon	Caroline Goodall
McCrea	John Savage	½
Chuck Gieg	Scott Wolf	½
Frank Beaumont	Jeremy Sisto
Gil Martin	Ryan Phillippe	½
Dean Preston	Eric Michael Cole
Tod Johnstone	Balthazar Getty
Shay Jennings	Jason Marsden	-
Robert March	David Lascher	-
Tracy Lapchick	Ethan Embry	-
Captain Sanders	Zeljko Ivanek	-
Captain Tyler	James Rebhorn	-

Review

Ridley Scott’s career has been one of hits and misses. Coming off his arguably greatest failure, 1492: Conquest of Paradise, he returned to the Caribbean to make this rather ambitious tale of maturation, fraternity, discipline and the daunting power of the high seas. White Squall aims for the pathos and sense of adventure of the great classics, but a few instances of subpar craftsmanship prevent it from becoming truly enthralling. The largely true story has dramatic potential, and yet it never quite rises above its whiff of melodrama. Scott's direction suggests a filmmaker who desperately wants his material to be more monumental than it is, and his characters to be larger than life. He gets adequate performances from his ensemble of young actors, and he sets up and captures the film's big action climax almost convincingly.