Solomon Islands, 1943. US forces are slowly pushing the Japanese out of the region. Short of larger warships, and suited to the shallow, narrow waters of the Solomons, the US Navy is heavily reliant on Patrol Torpedo (PT) boats to harry the enemy and perform all manner of other duties. One such boat is PT-109. Based on a (mostly) true story, here we see PT-109's exploits in the Solomons campaign, especially one incident for which it would become famous. Moreover, the movie focuses on the exploits and derring-do of PT-109's commander, Lt (jg) John Fitzgerald Kennedy...
Good, entertaining depiction of JFK's wartime adventures in the Solomons, and the one famous incident in particular. Never dull, and with some degree of grit, this is a rollicking adventure story. Some liberties taken with regard to historical accuracy, but not major ones. Reasonably accurate, militarily. Is possibly a bit too folksy at times in terms of the crew interactions.
Good work by Cliff Robertson as JFK. Supporting cast put in solid performances too.
Possibly even more fascinating than the movie is the making of it. JFK was President when the movie was made. He had veto power over the choice of director (he blocked at least one chosen director), got to choose who played himself (Cliff Robertson got the nod) and had input into other areas of the movie too. He managed to see the movie (he was assassinated five months after it was released) and said he liked it, but also thought that, at 2 hrs 20 mins, the movie was perhaps too long.
