The 4th of July holiday weekend is the time for the big summer blockbuster movies to premiere. This year it's The Perfect Storm and The Patriot. I saw The Perfect Storm a couple of days ago and I can say that it is a very good, well made movie starring George Clooney and Mark Walhberg. A drama with some action and great special effects.

It's the Fall of 1991 in Gloucester, Massachussetts, a small fishing town on the Eastern Seaboard. Two fishing boats have just returned, one captained by Billy Tyne (Clooney), the other by Linda Greenlaw (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). While Greenlaw's boat, the Hannah Boden (?), has brought in a good catch of swordfish (big suckers too), the Andrea Gail has once again brought in a poor catch.

It seems that the great Billy Tyne is in the longest slump of his career, and fishing company boss Bob Brown (Michael Ironside) suggests that maybe it's time for him to get a new captain. Tyne gets his dander up and vows to get a record catch in his next trip, which will be in two days thank you very much, as soon as they can restock supplies.

Meanwhile we get to meet the rest of the Andrea Gail's crew. There is Bobby Shatford (Wahlberg), a rookie just back from his first voyage. Bobby is in love with Christina Cotter (Diane Lane), a soon-to-be divorcee with two kids. Christina urges Bobby to quit and find a safer job, but Bobby knows they'll need the money and besides, he loves to fish.

Dale Murphy (John C. Reilly) has a divorced wife and kid, both of whom he loves. Mike Moran (John Hawkes) is the scruffy one that can't seem to attract any of the ladies, until he meets Irene Johnson (Rusty Schwimmer). David Sullivan (William Fichtner) is a last-minute replacement: a down on his luck fisherman who will butt heads with Murphy throughout the movie. Alfred Pierre (Allen Payne) is the last member of the crew, a Jamaican who has worked with Tyne for years.

So two days later off they go in search of swordfish. Meanwhile there is a hurricane off the Bermudas that is heading northwest, which will hit a heavy storm there. Energy from a cold front being whipped by the jet stream wiill combine to produce a massive hurricane/storm melding that threatens any craft off the Eastern Seaboard.

There is a B plot, which takes up about a half hour of the movie. This involves a small sailing vessel with a crew of three, one of whom (Melissa Brown, maybe related to Michael Ironside's character?) is played by Karen Allen. The sailing boat gets stuck in the hurricane and the plot follows as a Coast Guard helicopter tries to rescue them and then goes down themselves after the rescue.

This plot, although it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the main plot, is still quite well done. We get to see rescue procedures and what happens when one a rescue helicopter goes down in a storm. It shows a "normal" rescue operation, while the Andrea Gail in the main plot has to plod onwards on its own.

So The Perfect Storm has lots of drama and a good amount of action. A classic man against nature theme which is rather epic in proportions. The special effects are quite good, mostly having to do with the storm. The waves and rain and wind are very real-looking. You can just sit back and watch and be in the storm. All in all I highly recommend watching this in a theatre.