A few years back, I had nothing but praise for the thriller Breakdown, starring Kurt Russell. I admired it's simplicity, intensity, and taut pace. Director Jonathan Mostow returns with this rousingly old fashioned and suspenseful war picture, U-571.

Matthew McConaughey heads an American vessel that is sent behind enemy lines to board a stranded Nazi submarine and retrieve a special decoding device. Their mission goes bad when an unforeseen attack cuts their plans short.

U-571 isn't exactly character-driven, although McConaughey delivers his best performance to date, as the stoic hero in charge. This film is about style and like Breakdown, U-571 contains some truly intense moments that won't give you a chance to catch your breath. In fact, it's the moments of silence in this film that really lend it so much intensity.

The art direction comes courtesy of the man that created the subs for Wolfgang Peterson's Das Boot (which Mostow heavily borrows from), and you will feel as if you are part of the action. Mostow shoots within the small confines of these subs giving the film a dreadful sense of claustrophobia that's unsettling, but adds to the film's impact.

My only problem with U-571 are some of the effects and underwater shots--they don't seem to hold water, if you'll pardon the pun.

In the end, U-571 is meant to be nothing more than a thrill ride and it does more than get the job done. It's every bit as suspenseful as Crimson Tide and The Hunt for Red October, but doesn't quite have the humanity of Das Boot. Mostow is a film-maker to watch for.