Director Erik Skjoldbaerg attempts to create a Norwegian version of the kind of paranoid thriller that flourished in American film during the 1970s, with mixed results. The plot centers on an actual event in the early 1980s—an effort to train divers to be able to survive the physical stress involved in laying a pipeline on the bottom of the North Sea off Norway's coast, where rich deposits of oil have been discovered. An American firm is hired to prepare the locals, who endure long sessions in a pressure chamber before undertaking an actual dive that leads to disaster when a man is killed in an accident, and his brother, Petter (Aksel Hennie), finds himself accused of causing the tragedy. But Petter is convinced that the Americans were responsible, and he engages in a one-man crusade to prove that a cover-up has been engineered between the Americans and the Norwegian government in order to save the lucrative project. The first half of Pioneer—built primarily around gritty and realistic training sequences—is tense and effective, but the second, following Petter as he tries to prove the perfidy of the trainers and secure justice for his sister-in-law, generates little suspense. Nor does the presence of Wes Bentley and Stephen Lang as the on-site Americans add much to the mix. An optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes (27 min.), a “making-of” featurette (8 min.), “Working on Pioneer” interviews with costars Stephanie Sigman and Stephen Lang (7 min.), an AXS TV featurette (2 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an uneven thriller.] (F. Swietek)
Pioneer
Magnolia, 111 min., R, DVD: $26.98, Blu-ray: $29.98, Mar. 10 Volume 30, Issue 2
Pioneer
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