In the Heart of the Sea

When it comes to different films, whether they be based on a true story or are period films, so often are they not represented in the same film, especially when they are based as far back as the 1800's. Mind you, some films include these two elements, but most clearly do not. So when I realized that a film in which inspired Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick" was coming to the theaters, I just had to go see this. And what I viewed was stunning in both acting and direction.

In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a sperm whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville's "Moby-Dick". But that told only half the story. This story reveals the encounter's harrowing aftermath, as the ship's surviving crew including Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) and First Mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.
This starts as a flashback in 1850, whereas an older whaler who survived the Essex, Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) is telling his harrowing story to Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) who had to know the story first hand himself. As the story unfolds, it fades to 1820, logging everything that transpired aboard the doomed ship. However, what interests Melville more is the part about the whale, because that has never been the actual given reason of the Essex's undoing.

Others to round out the cast are Cillian Murphy as Matthew Joy, Michelle Fairley as Mrs. Nickerson, Tom Holland as Thomas Nickerson, Paul Anderson as Caleb Chappel, Frank Dillane as Henry Coffin, Joseph Mawle as Benjamin Lawrence, Edward Ashley as Barzillai Ray, Sam Keeley as Ramsdell, Osy Ikhile as Richard Peterson, Gary Beadle as William Bond and Jamie Sives as Cole.

This was finely directed by the consummate Ron Howard ("Grand Theft Auto" '77, "Night Shift" '82, "Splash" '84, "Gung Ho" '86, "Parenthood" '89, "Apollo 13" '95, "A Beautiful Mind" '01, "Cinderella Man" '05, "Frost/Nixon" '08, "The Dilemma" '11, "Rush" '13) plus many others. One thing I can truly respect Howard for is that he is willing to tackle any subject or genre, whether they be controversial or total fluff and anywhere in between. And every film is very important to him regardless of its impact or message that it's attempting to convey. The actors in this simply looked effortless in their roles like they were actually the characters they were portraying, but, of course, this is Howard. He has come such a long way from Opie on the Andy Griffith Show. Who would've thought then that this would be where we'd see him now? This was effectively written by Charles Leavitt ("K-Pax" '01, "Blood Diamond" '06, "Seventh Son" '14) based on a story by Leavitt, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver which is based on the book, "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" by Nathaniel Philbrick. This writer certainly has the resume to handle this type of script and this showcased his abilities. There were a couple of very small slow areas in this, but nothing to really take away from the impact he was obviously wanting to convey to his audience. And the visual effects by Double Negative, Scanline VFX and others actually enhanced this story even more.

If you're into maritime disaster films, this will put you in that happy place for one to revel. Certainly observing the brilliance of Howard's direction alone is worth the price of admission. And with the incredible visuals along with an IMAX and 3D format, this becomes fine escapism at its best.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                               Rated: PG-13                             121mins.