Review of In the Heart of the Sea (2015) by L Troy A — 27 Nov 2016

The story of Herman Melville's much celebrated novel 'Moby Dick' has been adapted onto the screen a few times, but Ron Howard's big budget bomb 'In the Heart of the Sea' is the first one in this century. While the film was built up to be an event movie, it fell way short for a few different reasons.

The main problem with 'Sea' is the fact that it's filmed unevenly. While the "flashback" approach can work well in some movies, it makes 'Sea' feel disjointed. The slow pacing also does not help the film's cause, and even though its runtime of just over two hours is not incredibly long, it definitely feels longer. Sure, there are a few scenes that are well done, including the squall that the crew of the Essex wander into and one of the big showdowns with the whale himself. And the fact that the ocean plays such a key role - basically acting as a supporting character in and of itself. But when considering the film in its entirety, the dialogue really weighs down everything, and not just because of the way it's written.

While Chris Hemsworth has given some alright performances in his day, this one is definitely close to the bottom of his list. As Owen Chase, a whaler and farmer from Nantucket, Hemsworth has perhaps met his most wooden match thus far, and while he has the most interaction on-camera with his arch-nemesis, Captain George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), the two of them struggle to bring their struggle to life to the point that viewers can get any feeling out of it. The rest of the ensemble cast is nothing to write home about, although Cillian Murphy gives it his all and does everything he can withe the role that's handed to him. Aside from acting, the CGI was probably the most noteworthy part of 'Sea,' but not for the right reasons. There were some cool shots of Moby Dick, including a few massive tail whips and such, but for the most part it looked fairly cheesy, which is disappointing given the inflated budget that Howard and team had to work with.

Despite all the twists, turns and annoyances, 'In the Heart of the Sea' ends on a fairly positive note, but it's not enough to make the 2+ hour sea voyage worth the price of admission, and the film remains one of the biggest blockbuster busts in recent memory.