In a world"¦ where a movie is based on true events"¦ one man"”must stop some members on his submarine from releasing a nuclear missile"”or else"¦ IT'S ALL OVER!
Set in the 1960's"”SPOILER ALERT: during the Cold War, Ed Harris plays that one man, a Russian captain named Demi, who is haunted by his past. Yes, Ed Harris is playing a Russian dude. No, this isn't a prequel to Eastern Promises. Ed Harris doesn't speak Russian, nor does he have a Russian accent like Viggo Mortensen did in that film, but it doesn't matter. All the Russian characters in Phantom speak English like contemporary Americans so it can be more accessible to the viewer because it has American stars.
Some may argue Phantom needs more stars, but I don't. I was glad to see so many faces of actors most audiences (including myself) wouldn't recognize because that meant the chance of a new star being born. Unfortunately, this film doesn't seize that opportunity, even though it probably intended to. Despite how well this movie was shot and that it was edited like a blockbuster hit, its scenes, characters, and overall story falls incredibly flat.
Phantom wants to be about extraordinary men facing impossible choices, but instead you get a dull movie about dull dudes stuck in a life and death scenario that plays out in a dull fashion. 12 Angry Men starring Peter Fonda was an interesting look at men facing impossible choices. Why not this film? The twists and turns Phantom takes are unsatisfying because you either see them coming or don't care by that point. There are also cheesy moments in the film that are intended to be heartwarming, and the filmmakers almost pull it off, but they don't work because the filmmakers failed to bring you a great story with great characters worth caring about.
If you want to see Ed Harris playing a complicated soul, watch Pollock, a biopic on the famous American painter, Jackson Pollock, a film Harris also directed. Writer-director, Todd Robinson, should find stronger source material and execute his writing in a more interesting way. If not, hire a better screenwriter. The last film I saw that had similar issues was Lincoln, but at least that movie had interesting characters like Thaddeus Stevens (portrayed excellently by Tommy Lee Jones) and some epic congressional scenes. I would watch Lincoln and 12 Angry Men back-to-back twelve times in a row before I ever give Phantom another twelve seconds.
