In addition, while the movie points out that Vidrine was acquitted of manslaughter charges, it doesn’t point out that BP as a company was convicted of the same charge, and forced to pay a $4 billion fine as a result of numerous environmental felonies.
In actuality, it was apparently the rig’s owners at Transocean who made this argument to the people at BP.
In the film, Vidrine is shown as the man who explains away the bad pressure reading they are receiving as something called a “bladder effect.”
Much of the problem appears to be in the portrayal of the British Petroleum executives in the film, primarily the character of Don Vidrine, played by John Malkovich.