The plot of U-571 is a fairly typical undersea cat-and-mouse game between a crippled submarine and enemy destroyers that are out to see it remains underwater permanently. Bill Paxton plays Lt. Commander Dahlgren, the chief commanding officer of a World War I submarine that's older than many of the men aboard her. "She's old, but she'll hold," Dahlgren says, presumably of his vessel and not U-571's story line. Whatever, both are given another shot at glory in 1942. Next on the scene is Matthew McConaughey as Lt. Tyler, an all too eager young officer upset that he hasn't been given a boat of his own to order around. Dahlgren and Tyler are assigned a keen crew of enlisted men and set sail on a secret mission to recover an Enigma machine from a crippled German U-boat (the Mercedes of submarines).

U-571 is fiction based on actual attempts to capture and decode Enigmas, which were real-life devices used by U-boats to communicate stealthily and with deadly efficiency. Also along for the ride is David Keith, last seen hanging around in An Officer and a Gentleman. Keith plays Marine Major Coonan, a CIA man in charge of training Tyler's boarding party to successfully capture the Enigma, at any and all costs. While Tyler and company are evacuating the enemy sub after successfully securing the Enigma, a second U-boat, sent to rescue the U-571, sinks the American sub, killing all aboard.

Tyler and a handful of men are left stranded on the badly damaged enemy sub, which they must somehow repair, despite all instruments and machinery being labeled in German. The fun and games don't end there as the Americans must still survive heavily patrolled enemy waters and get themselves and the Enigma device to England. Clearly, we're not talking Carnival Cruise Lines here.

U-571's ensemble cast of actors, both veteran and lesser known, work uniformly well together even though you can't help but laugh the first time Jon Bon Jovi smirks his way on screen. To Jon Bon's credit, he remembers all of his lines and doesn't bump his head once. Commendation too is due to writer/director Jonathan Mostow (best known for 1997's Kurt Russell highway thriller Breakdown) for scripting an early exit from the film for Lt. Jovi. Unfortunately, the actual slow-motion shot of J.B.J. getting his head blown off was left on the cutting room floor. To the press, Jovi has said the scene was "cool" and that he wishes it had made it to the screen so his fans would know what happened to him. These must be the same fans that have been wondering what happened to him since he chopped off his curly locks and dropped off the pop charts in the early '90s.

McConaughey, Paxton and Harvey Keitel all turn in tough, convincing performances that allow the audience to get carried away in the riptide of U-571's action-jacked story line. McConaughey's focused performance is an impressive contrast to the freewheeling nature of his well-publicized private life. Paxton notches a third historical film credit to an already remarkable résumé that includes Titanic and Apollo 13. And what can you say about Harvey "Bad Lieutenant" Keitel? His presence is as hard hitting as ever and thank God he keeps his pants on this time, sparing audiences another full frontal shot of "Little Harvey." Lesser known, but well worth mentioning, is T.C. Carson of TV's "Living Single" who plays Eddie, the sub's cook. Carson's character is the only black man in an otherwise all white crew and Carson's performance reflects the strength, spirit and sense of humor required of an individual crazed enough to volunteer for such adventurous duty.

U-571's producers Dino and Martha De Laurentiis went to great length to ensure the validity of the picture's sets, dialogue and effects. A battalion of retired WW2 submariners including Vice Admiral Patrick Hannifin served as technical advisors making sure each button, command and action sequence was as realistic as possible. When you do your homework, you get good grades. With that in mind U-571 scores straight A's for Authenticity.

For the most part, U-571 is of the same high caliber as war classics like Run Silent Run Deep, Stalag 17 and The Great Escape. The gritty look and tense mood of Das Boot also comes to mind when experiencing U-571, probably because Das Boot’s production designer Gotz Weidner did the same first-class job on both films.

It's loud, coarse and violent and far from politically correct. The squeamish are advised to stay home and wait for Happy Gilmore 2. But, for those few who can take it, U-571 is an honest worthwhile account of men who, whether they wanted to or not, looked sharp when duty called, for the sake of one and all.