Phantom (2013)

This is a Cold War era story about a KGB plan to precipitate World War III, nuclear style.  Inspired by true events, so they say, but filled with a liberal sprinkling of speculative fiction, "Phantom" takes place almost entirely aboard a nearly obsolete Soviet submarine in 1968. The sub will be stripped of some key elements and then sold to the Chinese — but first there's one last mission.

The bad guy is Bruni (David Duchovny) and the good guy is Demi (Ed Harris turns in a stellar performance in this role, which is unfortunately not matched by the script or his fellow actors, but is so good he alone makes it worth watching).  Be aware--everyone talks like they do in real life.  No Soviet accents.  It is always a conundrum about what to do with accents when portraying a story set in another country but the whole thing will be in English.  I find the phony accents disconcerting, but some might find people with Jersey accents talking disparagingly about Americans equally jarring.  So brace yourself for that.

Demi is a craggy-faced, world-weary Soviet sub commander who battles epilepsy, alcoholism, and is plagued by flashbacks that seem right out of a horror movie. He is a complicated hero, to be sure.  Nearing the end of his career, Demi has never escaped the shadow of his father, a legend in Soviet military lore--this is his swan song, his last voyage as well as the subs and he knows that he will not emerge from his father's shadow.  Bruni, who is badly cast (Duchovny is much too likable a guy for this role), stages a mutiny, and things don't end well.  Almost the entire film is shot in the submarine, but the final result has none of the intensity of the classic claustrophobic sbumarine film, 'Das Boot'.  Watch this for Harris' performance.