(It’s only a short
review this week because, well, with you know what coming out soon I wanted to
make sure this review was done before I ‘go dark’ on social media on Monday to
avoid unwanted spoilers. In the meantime, please enjoy this review of ‘In the
Heart of the Sea’.)
When it comes to ‘Great American Novels’, stories that
became a vital part of America’s cultural history, arguably none are more famous
than ‘Moby Dick’. Written by novelist Herman Melville in 1851, ‘Moby Dick’ told
the story of Captain Ahab and his obsession with killing the titular Moby Dick,
the sperm whale that had destroyed his ship and took one of his legs. While the
novel failed to attract much attention commercially upon its initial release,
it ended up getting more and more attention over time until it became one of
the most iconic stories of all-time. In the film/TV world, ‘Moby Dick’ has been
seen quite a few adaptations over the years. There have been some
straight-forward adaptations, with the most famous being the 1956 John Huston
directed film starring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, some ‘retellings’ through
classic cartoons like ‘Tom and Jerry’ and ‘The Flintstones’, and some films
have even implemented references to the novel into their stories, like ‘Star
Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ with many of Khan’s quotes lifted directed from the
novel itself. But what some of you may
not know is that the story of ‘Moby Dick’ was partially inspired by a real-life
incident involving a giant whale; the 1820 sinking of the whaling ship Essex. In 2000, this story was told via
the novel ‘In the Heart of the Sea’ written by Nathaniel Philbrick. 15 years
later, Ron Howard directs the film adaptation of the event that inspired one of
the most classic stories of all-time. And while the film may not entirely capture
the ‘epic’ scale of its source material, it’s still a very engaging
old-fashioned adventure.
For the record, if you’re going into this film expecting a
lot of whale-ship action, you might be a bit disappointed because that only
takes up about one-third of the film. Instead, the film is more about the crew
of the Essex as they try to survive
after being shipwrecked. Though with that said, for a story as grand in scale
as this one, admittedly it feels a bit truncated at times. By that I mean
certain parts of the story feel a bit rushed. The film is only two hours long
and it does fly by really quick. As a result, it does feel like the film sort
of glosses over some important parts of the plot, like the rivalry between Essex’s First Mate Owen Chase and Captain
George Pollard Jr., the former being an experienced whaler and the latter being
an inexperienced seaman who mainly got the position of Captain as a result of
his heritage, and some parts of the crew’s days lost at sea. Though ultimately
while the film could’ve definitely benefitted from a heftier runtime, I still
found myself admiring the film for its simple old-fashioned execution via Ron
Howard’s direction. It’s a simple story of man vs. nature and while the film
may not carry as much emotional depth as it’s looking for, there are still
quite a few excellent moments peppered in here and there. In particular, the
big sequence involving the whale attacking the ship is definitely a highlight
and an intense action sequence. And despite the shortcomings with story and character
development, the film does feature a solid cast of leads from Chris Hemsworth,
who undergoes quite a physical transformation unexpected from someone like the
God of Thunder, to new Spider-Man Tom Holland.
Ultimately if you’re in the mood for a simple, old-fashioned
tale of survival, you’ll probably enjoy ‘In the Heart of the Sea’. It has some
flaws but overall I still recommend it.
Rating: 3.5/5
