USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage

Dir: Mario Van Peebles

2016

*

The warning signs were fairly obvious before I sat down to watch USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage but I just couldn't resist. Firstly, it was straight to DVD and wasn't even considered for a cinema release. Secondly, it stars Nicolas Cage, and thirdly, it stars Tom Sizemore! Ever since that brilliant monologue delivered by Robert Shaw's Captain Quint in 1975's Jaws, the idea of telling the true story of the USS Indianapolis on the big screen has been something many have touted. John Milius wrote the famous script based on testimonials but it wasn't entirely accurate. Jaws co-writer Howard Sackler loved it so much though that he suggested to Universal Studios that the film's sequel should be a prequel that followed Quint's experience on the doomed ship. It was of course rejected in favour of the carbon-copy that is Jaws 2 but to this day fans discuss the non-existent masterpiece and the chances of it ever happening. Until now though I guess. Who better to direct than one of the leading stars of Jaws - The Revenge, surely his experience of shark themed drama makes him the best man for the job? I'm sure the studio boss's thought the same. I have a soft spot for Mario Van Peebles if I’m being honest and I'm one of few people I know that actually liked Posse, but it is fair to say that his talents have better suited TV of late and that this was a project that was a little beyond his capabilities. The USS Indianapolis story is one of three chapters and the film reflects this. It is famous for delivering the atom bomb that was eventually dropped on Hiroshima, for being sunk by a Japanese submarine, leaving the crew to be stranded in shark-infested waters (where hundreds of them died) and that after the war the Captain was court marshalled for hazarding the ship for not zig-zagging (to avoid torpedoes) and that the Japanese Commander of the Submarine that sank them testified to his defence that there was no way he could have avoided them. So there was the secret mission, the sinking ship, the shark attacks and then a good old fashioned court room scene. It's a story that has everything and in the right hands it could be one of the greatest war dramas of all time, instead, this is a low-budget, insulting b-movie that will only appeal to Sharksploitation enthusiasts. One of the cast members actually played his own Grandfather who was one of the survivors, even after a shark bit his arm off. I wonder what it must have been like for him, to see this horrific memory, brought to life with awful CGI, terrible acting, inaccurate occurrences and his own Grandson pretending to be him having his arm bitten off. Surely he has enough nightmares to contend with? To their credit they did spend some time on character development, it's just that the characters weren't particularly likable or believable. You don't really need made-up sub-plots when you already have atom bombs, torpedoes, sharks and Nicolas Cage but the film is full of them. The historical inaccuracies are frustrating, some can be overlooked but many can't. There were a few inaccuracies regarding the black sailors and the subject of segregation that I'm surprised Van Peebles didn't explore, you could argue it would have been off-point but I would argue that 70% of the movie already was anyway, at least the subject of segregation (particularly in the court room scene) was factual and of interest. I'm being harsh on the film but only because it is awful. I watched it all the way through, I wouldn't say I was entertained but I kept watching. A big budget, sensible version needs to be made though, it is such an interesting and important story, it deserves an honourable adaptation, one made with just a little more respect. Not sure how Tom Sizemore hugging his own severed leg for twenty minutes could be considered tasteful really?