McConaugheMay Day 9: U-571

Looks like a dad movie, talks like a dad movie, that's a dad movie. I am no dad (more of a dirtbag uncle in vibes), so I don't have the requisite ingrained interest in submarines or WWII history for this to have hit. This is yet another little-discussed film in Matthew McConaughey’s oeuvre, coming in that awkward mid-point between being a ‘90s actor to watch to his 2000s rom-com era career low. This was an era where he starred in movies like EdTV (directed by Ron Howard) and The Newton Boys (a previously-discussed Richard Linklater film). Very little is talked about of this era of his career, either by critics or the man himself.

As for the specifics of U-571, it’s definitely not a hidden gem in the star’s career. He plays a young and gifted submarine lieutenant bristling at having his promotion blocked by his commanding officer on the grounds that he’s not willing to make dangerous decisions without hesitation. It all feels very Star Trek in its pacing and plot (which makes sense considering how much Gene Roddenberry used naval combat as an inspiration in Star Trek), but those broad brushes end up making the movie extremely forgettable. It’s not helped by the fact that this is a movie with a title so generic and hard to remember that even in the process of writing this article, I’ve had to triple-check that I’m using the correct one each time. As with The Newton Boys, The Paperboy, and Free State of Jones, this is a period piece (taking place in WWII in this instance) and it seems McConaughey has terrible luck when he appears in these types of movies. None of the above are well-liked, even by the most die hard of fans. That said, I have to admit it's neat that it looks like the filmmakers really just did throw a bunch of boats and submarines in the ocean and set off explosives. I will always respect practical effects in all their forms. One other interesting historical tidbit is that, despite the beginning and closing text, this is an entirely fictional story only loosely based on an operation performed by British sailors, which gives the film a somewhat sinister propagandistic edge.

I'm starting to see that McConaughey most often acts as a void—his eyes are able to convey SOME sort of internal thought process, but it's never clear to me what in particular that is. It's almost entirely reliant on the context of the film around him, the plot, the music cue, the other actors' responses, to hint at what he's thinking. It's a skill that certainly serves him well in mainstream rom-coms (where the emptiness of character allows for a frictionless viewing experience) or when playing nihilists like Rust Cohle in True Detective or killer Joe in Killer Joe. He plays empty men, even in the films where they are explicitly not empty. I wonder how much this correlates with his sentiment in I Am Evel Knievel where he spoke admiringly about a man who never "took off the cape." What is the man underneath that handsome facade actually like? The more movies I see him in, the less clear that image becomes.

Jon Bon Jovi is in this movie. Weird!