U-571

(Universal)

Submarine classics like 1957's The Enemy Below distilled conflict to its essence; All that Jonathan Mostow's jury-rigged vehicle reveals is the creative poverty of modern studios. An American sub crew board a Nazi U-boat, seizing a machine that will break the Reich's secret military code -- the tantalizingly named Enigma. When their own vessel is destroyed, the Americans are forced to head for home in the enemy boat, unable to radio for help because to do so would reveal to the Germans that their code has been compromised. Thus trapped in U-571, the American crew should learn what connects them to and separates them from the enemy. Instead, Matthew MacConaghey puts in a rote performance, leading a nondescript bunch named Chief, Rabbit and Trigger through overproduced clichés. Even Harvey Keitel is boring. The only enigma about U-571 is what ever happened to decent genre movies.