In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

IMDb Rating: 7/10

***Spoilers ahead

I liked this movie very much. It was captivating from start to finish. But there were still flaws, and it seemed to be lacking something, and I still haven’t figured out what it is.

Chris Hemsworth impressed me. He is not the best actor of his generation but he can give a heartfelt performance. His accent was weird at times, though. All of the accents sounded off, actually. I guess there were too many British actors trying to pull off American accents. I get it was 1820 and the dialects were different, but still. It just seemed kind of sloppy. I give the overall acting a B-. The visual effects didn't blow me away either, but I also saw it in IMAX so everything was huge and hard to see.

I have high hopes for Tom Holland, the boy who played Thomas Nickerson. He reminds me so much of a young Jamie Bell, and I am excited to see him as the new Spider-Man. I was also impressed (as I always am) by Cillian Murphy’s performance. I think he’s such an underrated actor.

I knew this was going to be a wiener-measuring contest between the captain and the first mate as soon as we were introduced to their characters, and lo and behold it was: a feud between a man with a good family name and a man with humble beginnings who holds the real respect of the crew. I understand that it was necessary for the plot that they didn’t get along, but it was a little overdone. And of course they made up in the end and found a mutual respect for each other. It was these kinds of clichés and cheesy moments that prevented me from giving the movie a higher rating.

I found myself rooting for the whale initially. He is just trying to protect himself and his fellow whales! He went a little too far though when he smashed up the sailors’ rowboats when they were already very much defeated. What a [Moby] Dick move. Ha.

I guess it was inevitable that Owen Chase and the whale would have a mutual respect thing happen at the climax at the movie. It still felt like one of those pesky clichés again.

I really didn’t think Owen was going to survive to the end. Especially how they played up his wife and future child and how he promised to return home to them. And I really thought he was going to keel over just as they finally sighted land. But they have to stick to facts of the story, so thankfully this didn't happen. Unbelievably, I was able to leave the theater with a good feeling, rather being utterly depressed after watching all that suffering.

If you aren’t a complete nitpicker like I am, you will definitely be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy a film about a fascinating survival story set in an enchanting time period.