Matthew McConaughey's Star-Studded Submarine Thriller Is A Must-Watch On Netflix

Upon entering the film scene in the 1990s, Matthew McConaughey tended to play two types of characters: chiseled and upstanding (if vanilla) heroes and disreputable yet entrancing oddballs. Just looks at his run in 1996: He portrayed an old-fashioned lawman in John Sayles' celebrated Texas-set neo-Western movie "Lone Star" and a crusading, idealistic lawyer in the John Grisham film adaptation "A Time to Kill," only to turn around and terrorize Bill Murray as a bug-eyed, paranoid trucker in the comedy "Larger Than Life." Even today, that more or less sums up McConaughey as an artist, and it's worked out well for him.

"U-571," which bowed theatrically in the spring of 2000, had McConaughey once again playing the noble type. Back then, though, he was still being cast as men of honor who were wet behind the ears, and he usually found himself being mentored by seasoned character actors on screen. Indeed, both the late, much-missed Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel (who's still with us, mercifully) have a thing or two to teach McConaughey in "U-571."

McConaughey's (largely) underwater thriller follows the crew of a U.S. submarine as they attempt to stealthily acquire one of Germany's coveted Enigma machine coding devices from a downed U-boat (the U-571) during World War II. It's prime Dad Movie material, no doubt, but thanks to its star-studded ensemble (which also includes David Keith, Thomas Kretschmann, and, somewhat randomly, Jon Bon Jovi) and Jonathan Mostow's direction, it makes for a gripping two hours of clammy-faced men struggling to avoid being blown to smithereens and/or drowning inside deep-diving glorified metal death traps. However, should you feel like giving it a watch on Netflix (where it's currently streaming), just keep in mind that it's basically a work of pure fiction despite its suggestions to the contrary.

Remember when Ethan Hawke got a crash course in handling police corruption in the David Ayer-written "Training Day" (along with a similar lesson in acting opposite Denzel Washington)? Before that, Matthew McConaughey underwent his own ruthless rite of passage in the Ayer-penned "U-571." The actor stars in the film as Andrew Tyler, a Navy Lieutenant whose request to run his own submarine is denied when his commanding officer (Bill Paxton) decides he's not quite ready for the job. Of course, when their efforts to recover the Enigma device from the U-571 go terribly wrong, Tyler is suddenly forced to grow up and really appreciate the burdens of being a captain.

Under Jonathan Mostow's guidance, "U-571" serves up one exciting scene after another of Tyler and his crewmates scrambling to stay alive after having to take refuge in the dripping, cramped interiors of the titular U-boat. You also get lots of dramatic, po-faced line-deliveries from the likes of Harvey Keitel, whose grizzled Chief Gunner's Mate Henry Keough does his best to help Tyler through the crucible of commanding a submarine. The only problem? All the stuff about the U.S. being the first country to secure an Enigma machine during WWII is total hooey. In fact, the only wholly true thing story-wise is that the U-571 was a real vessel that once existed.

Following its theatrical debut, "U-571" garnered a lot of controversy in the UK, which was actually responsible for breaking the Enigma. Ayer has since apologized for playing too fast and loose with history, but even knowing that, the movie itself still makes for a good time. Just maybe do a little reading up on the true story after you're done checking it out on Netflix.