Movie Review
Review In The Heart of The Sea
Based on the non-fictional novel of the same name by Nathaniel Philbrick, In the Heart of the Sea is a semi-biographical movie that, in theory, has all the makings of an epic action-adventure. Narratively, the movie is a layered account of the Essex Tragedy - an 1820 whaling expedition that went horribly wrong. 30 years later it served as the inspiration for Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, a loosely based account of that tragedy that told of a devastating encounter with an enraged sperm whale.
Even though young Melville's (Ben Whishaw) interview with the truculent Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) bookends the movie, let it first be known that these scenes are in fact fiction, for there is no way that the real-life Melville could have access to Nickerson's memoir, since the book 'Moby Dick' was published in 1851. The setting is 1820 Nantucket, Massachusetts, where whale oil is a booming business (this was almost a century before crude oil was discovered). Famed whaling ship - the Essex – is commissioned to bring back 2000 barrels of whale oil, with the assurance that first mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) will be promoted to skipper on his next voyage. But even before they set sail, tensions rise between Chase and Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), whose only qualification is his privileged family name. Between ego bashing and bad navigational decisions, disaster strikes when the Essex encounters a mammoth sperm whale with what appears to be a bad case of premediated ferocity. What happens next is history but the aftermath of the attack leads to an unthinkable and horrific revelation that even Melville left out in Moby-Dick.
Acting wise, the movie was pretty good. Chris Hemsworth was the obvious standout, he was able to show off his acting talents quite a few times throughout the movie, but still it was nothing amazing. The supporting cast was also mostly pretty strong, Benjamin Walker and our friendly neighbourhood Tom Holland were good, not great, just good strong performances. Ron Howard did a pretty good job directing the movie, most of the time he nailed the tone of the movie. The dramatic action scenes were filmed and directed in a very frantic and chaotic manner that upped the stakes during those intense moments. Especially in the latter portions of the movie he does represent the sad tones and emotion pretty well and handles some very confronting scenes in a way that isn't too disturbing but also isn't sugar-coated.
This real life Moby Dick is directed with enough assurance and visual flair by the professional and proficient Ron Howard that throughout its two hour run time there's enough to warrant a cinema screen viewing but you can't help escape the feeling that in the end we were never hooked the way we should be to this almost unbelievably huge adventure.
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