"The Perfect Storm" is based on the true story of the Andrea Gail, a Gloucester, Mass., swordfishing boat that unluckily sails into the worst storm of the 20th century. The story is a good one and it is given a reverential treatment by Director Wolfgang Petersen, working from the novel by Sebastian Junger.

Mr. Petersen is comfortable in the water (Das Boot) as well in the action arena (In the Line of Fire) and he keeps the storytelling swift and suspenseful. Once the Andrea Gail turns into the face of the storm, all hell breaks loose, and the film - like the storm itself - never lets up. The storm footage is dazzling, and Mr. Petersen's camera seems to be able to float on the wind of the hurricane itself.

The fact that George Clooney, as Gail's Captain Billy Tyne, makes little to no impression for the first quarter of the film does not bode well for his performance. In the end, though, he emerges as a fine leader for the ragtag crew of the vessel. The crew consists of what would have been interchangeable characters if not for some able performances from the likes of John C. Reilly, William Fichter and, yes, even Mark Wahlberg - who is still riding high on the same naïve farm boy act that used to keep Woody Harrelson interesting.

By the very nature of the story, we cannot be sure exactly what happened during those crucial and nightmarish hours that the ship was caught in the storm. The screenplay by Bill Wittliff goes easy on the plot contrivances, though they are certainly there, he does, however, go a little heavy on the sap towards the end. That is forgivable though, since by then you feel so much as though you've been through a storm, it would be understandable to check if your clothes were wet.