Captain Billy Tyne:  "The fog's just lifting. Throw off your bow line; throw off your stern. You head out to South channel, past Rocky Neck, Ten Pound Island. Past Niles Pond where I skated as a kid. Blow your air-horn and throw a wave to the lighthouse keeper's kid on Thatcher Island. Then the birds show up: black backs, herring gulls, big dump ducks. The sun hits ya - head North. Open up to 12 - steamin' now. The guys are busy; you're in charge. Ya know what? You're a goddam swordboat captain! Is there any thing better in the world?"

-The Perfect Storm (2000), screenplay by William D. Wittliff

The Perfect Storm is a movie that is often overlooked as one of George Clooney's finer performances. Not many find Clooney to be a fantastic actor; he's the suave guy who does a lot of action movies, a man's man who can easily please the ladies. However, other than Up in the Air (2009), I find The Perfect Storm to be one of Clooney's finer moments.


Clooney's monologue occurs early on in the film.  He's out on in the harbor with another captain, a woman, and the scene is exactly as he describes. The soundtrack, by the way, is gorgeous, particularly in this moment. What the captain says always makes me stop for a moment and think about the beauty I find in the things I do everyday. The things Clooney mentions are completely ordinary: he sees them everyday he goes out for work. It's not a big deal, but in this moment, he is trying to convince the woman he's talking with that what they do is the best thing ever. They live and breath swordfish fishing.


One word: passion. Swordfish captains aren't the most glamorous people, but the passion with which Clooney delivers his lines convinces me that swordfishing is something I want to try. The salty smell of the ocean air, the breeze off the water, seagulls calling, I can hear it all in the monologue. I want to pack up and head to the East coast.


It is often difficult to find beauty in such ordinary things. Life is often monotonous, we drag ourselves into a day to day routine.  Stopping and breathing in the sea (or city) air can do wonders.  


Having a zeal for just doing your job, or realizing how awesome it is to even have a job, especially one that you love doing, is something we all often take for granted. Sure, nobody wants to work their entire lives away; we'd much rather be on vacation. But if we remember how good it feels to be a part of something, to contribute to something, to get our hands dirty, then the blow isn't as bad.


Is there anything better in the world than being out on the water and being in charge? Nope. Not in the moment. If we can find that spark of passion to ignite us, the one that makes us come alive like Captain Billy Tyne, I'd say that we've accomplished something...no matter if we are a CEO or a swordfisherman.








Note: Photo courtesy of allmoviephoto.com, monologue courtesy of imdb.com.