The Command

With their confined spaces and underwater missions fraught with potential danger, submarines have been an effective source of big-screen suspense for generations.

The mildly taut true-life drama The Command is no exception in that regard, although the sequences on land make this chronicle of the Russian navy’s Kursk tragedy feel waterlogged.

For those unfamiliar, the story takes place in 2000, when Russian officials launched the nuclear powered Kursk as part of a training exercise, only to have a torpedo explore on board, sending the sub careening toward the floor of the Arctic Ocean.

After a subsequent blast causes further damage, the ship takes on significant water, causing a captain (Matthias Schoenaerts) to spearhead a survival strategy for the remaining crew members. He dives into the frigid waters himself to retrieve oxygen canisters, then huddles with his mates against improbable odds.

As the captain’s pregnant wife (Lea Seydoux) and other frantic family members search for answers, they’re stymied by callous and negligent bureaucrats more concerned with procedural spin control than organizing a timely rescue effort. While the disaster unfolds, Russian officers reject outside assistance offered by foreign governments, such as a British commodore (Colin Firth) whose goodwill plan instead turns into a recovery mission.

Danish director Thomas Vinterburg (Far from the Madding Crowd) and Oscar-winning cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire) add some stylish touches to enhance the tension aboard the vessel. They depict the harrowing explosion and its immediate aftermath with vivid intimacy.

The men develop a convincing, if somewhat exaggerated, camaraderie beneath the surface. However, solid performances and technical contributions can only keep the film afloat for so long.

The muddled screenplay by Robert Rodat (Saving Private Ryan), based on a nonfiction book by British journalist Robert Moore, takes a character-driven approach yet indulges in heavy-handed melodrama. As it fills in the contextual details, the film bogs down in sociopolitical mumbo-jumbo and indulges in heavy-handed melodrama, diminishing the resonance of the source material.

During its moments of submerged speculation, The Command conveys the feeling of heroism amid the hopelessness. Too often, though, instead of eliciting the intended sadness or outrage to raise the stakes, it lacks an emotional anchor.

Rated PG-13, 117 minutes.