Review: The Perfect Storm

Website: Sebastian Junger

Per capita, swordfishing is the most dangerous profession around. More men have been lost at sea in search of fish than those who fight crime in the cities or fires in the forest. In Sebastian Junger's book "The Perfect Storm", he tells the story of six such fisherman who were lost in 1991 during Hurricane Grace.

When the film was released in the summer of 2000, I was in the theater the first chance I could get to see "The Perfect Storm", starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the real life drama of the Andrea Gail, the swordfishing boat that was lost at sea off the Sable Island near Newfoundland during that horrific storm.

I was living in Washington, D.C. at the time of the storm and I don't remember ever hearing about the six men aboard the ship who were lost during Hurricane Grace. Even reading up on the topic and seeing the programs on Discovery Channel didn't jog my memory. But now their story will forever be imprinted on my mind - on our minds - now that Sebastian Junger's bestselling book has become a fantastic movie.

I just finished reading the book and I was impressed with how well Junger was able to not only tell the story of what might have happened on the Andrea Gail (no one really knows since there were no survivors and the wreckage was never found), but also telling of the amazing struggle on behalf of the Air National Guard to save the people they could find in the hurricane.

The film version of the book has it's faults - it's a little obvious that it wants to tug the heartstrings in the first twenty minutes of the film as you get to know the men who are ultimately doomed. The film practically forcefeeds you the fact that these people are not going to see their families again. However, once the film takes you onto the boat and into the storm you are hooked. My entire body was so tensed up by the end of the film because I could not even fathom attempting to try to sail through waves such as those portrayed in the film.

The book is even more dramatic in the storytelling, because Junger's gift of writing makes you genuinely feel what it would be like to have the thrill of catching 40,000 tons of swordfish on a one-month trip, to drown in the ocean, or to go down with the ship. I have read other articles by Junger and he has such an eye for the details that keep a reader hooked, and he proved himself again with "The Perfect Storm".

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