This movie records the build-up and inferno that engulfed the massive oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. The fireball could be seen more than 64km away. After the platform sank, the largest oil spill in US history devastated the sea and coastline. The film subordinates its people (11 of whom died) until they seem little more than the flying debris and waste.This isn’t to say that the humans are irrelevant. On the contrary, from inception, it records various warnings and apprehensions of the workers — all met with sneers from the owners, particularly BP (which initially paid most in compensation, well over US$2.4bn).The film strikes out against the arrogance of the oil industry — with Malkovich representing BP on the rig, his unique blend of kindliness and madness well on display — but takes the criticism no further than the flagged horrors of the blow-up itself. That we depend on and greedily crave money for a familiar fossil fuel is not examined. Perhaps it can’t?...
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