Rapid Review: In The Heart Of The Sea (2015)

“We were headed for the edge of sanity… like we were aberrations, phantoms. Trust gave way to doubt. Hope to superstition.”
– Old Thomas Nickerson

SYNOPSIS: A recounting of a New England whaling ship’s sinking by a giant whale in 1820, an experience that later inspired the great novel Moby-Dick. – via IMDB

Right off the bat, I must admit that I never read Moby Dick. Yes. There, I said it. I finally got around to seeing this, though. I was expecting a wasted, pointless film ultimately, because reviews came back less than favourable, although not scathing. Personally, I found the movie to be entertaining and engrossing, even though there were flaws. I think the biggest drawback to the film is that the cast is not utilised as well as it could be, so many of the cast members and their characters are grossly underused. I was, however, a fan of Melville getting the story from Nickerson, and creating Moby Dick from there. The film explores some of the darker, nastier things about surviving while shipwrecked that far out, and this is done really well. Just thinking about the lengths that these men had to go to to survive is just something else. Hemsworth delivers a solid performance, and Cillian Murphy is, as always, well worth watching. I’d watch him anywhere though. The cast works well together to spin the story of a whaling ship, desperate to get enough oil to return home, crazy enough to take on a monstrous whale and pay the cost. Not only that, the interpersonal relationships between them were also well done, fraught with politics, friendship, competition, and status. Visually, In The Heart of the Sea is stunning to look at, though this is something I did expect, if we are being honest. The costumes, the settings, everything looked good. I do feel, however, that the movie did play things very safe, but I was engrossed from the off, and my husband thoroughly enjoyed it, too, which I actually didn’t expect. It gets to emotional places that are sad, don’t get me wrong, but never pack the raw punch you are holding out for. Overall, In The Heart of the Sea is worth the watch, a film that I enjoyed watching and can recommend.