AJust back in Gloucester (Massachusetts) with a not-so-great catch, Billy Tyne (George Clooney), captain of the swordfishing boat Andrea Gail, decides to take the boat out once more before the season ends in October. Along with his five man crew -- Bobby Shatford (Mark Wahlberg), David "Sully" Sullivan (William Fichtner), Dale "Murph" Murphy (John C. Reilly), Mike "Bugsy" Moran (John Hawkes), and Alfred Pierre (Allen Payne) -- Billy decides this time go out further than the Grand Banks, all the way to the Flemish Cap, not knowing that there is a perfect storm brewing around them.
AYes, although the movie dramatizes four different stories about people who were caught in the storm. The main story is based on the Andrea Gail, a 72-foot commercial-fishing vessel (home port Marblehead, Massachusetts) that sailed from Gloucester, Massachusetts on 20 September, 1991, bound for the Grand Banks, with Captain Billy Tyne at the helm. Because the fishing was poor, she then headed for the Flemish Cap. After her ice machine malfunctioned 36 days later, the Andrea Gail headed for home on 26 October. On the way home, she got caught in the "Perfect Storm." However, much of the movie's drama, e.g.,catching the shark, one of the crew getting pulled overboard by an errant hook, etc. was either based on prior trips, interviews with past crew members, or stories about other fishing vessels. The actual guess work was the sinking itself, since the Andrea Gail had no communications during that period. The other three stories concern (1) Linda Greenlaw (played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), the captain of the Hannah Boden, sister ship to the Andrea Gail, (2) the plight of the Mistral, a yacht caught in the storm waters, and (3) the attempts of the Coast Guard and Air National Guard to rescue the sailors on both the Andrea Gail and the Mistral. If you view the "HBO First Look" in the Special Features on the DVD, you'll see the real-life Linda Greenlaw meet Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.
