TV REVIEWS : ‘Dead Ahead’: A Valdez-Spill Thriller

While the Big Three networks operate their assembly line of look-alike docudramas about violent crime, HBO continues to dwell on larger crimes against humanity.

On the heels of the cable network’s ambitious “Stalin” comes “Dead Ahead: The Exxon Valdez Disaster,” a BBC-created, behind-the-scenes account of a sweeping environmental catastrophe whose impact may resonate for generations to come. The pulsating movie airs at 8 tonight.

It was on a Friday in 1989 that the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska’s Prince William Sound, pouring out 11 million gallons of oil that turned the coastal waters into a thick, polluting gravy that proved lethal to an estimated 500,000 birds and countless other animals.

Dealing essentially with the event’s aftermath, Michael Baker’s script hops over character development. The giant tanker’s boozing captain, for example--the tragedy’s catalyst, who relinquished the helm at a critical time--remains an enigmatic, almost shadowy figure. And the interlocking, rival factions involved in the cleanup become an indistinguishable maze.

Yet “Dead Ahead” manages to fuse its diverse elements into a compelling thriller about self-interest taking precedence over public interest. And its realistic, smoky intrigues--ugly private displays of incompetence, bureaucratic bungling, buck passing, turf guarding and media manipulation--are an eavesdropper’s delight. Driven at a crackling pace by director Paul Seed, it’s all fascinating, and sobering.

There are worthy performances by John Heard as Dan Lawn, a district supervisor for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, and Christopher Lloyd as Exxon Shipping Co. President Frank Iarossi, whose personal perspective underlies much of “Dead Ahead.” Both men are depicted mainly as isolated voices of reason within their separate contingents. Both subsequently lost their jobs.