Review of In the Heart of the Sea (2015) by Richard Y — 11 Dec 2015

Based on the 2000 book of the same name which in turn was based on two books of a true incident: one by the first mate, Chase Owen, of the sunken whale-ship Essex who wrote in his 1821 book "Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex" and the other by a then 14y.o. cabin boy of the Essex, Thomas Nickerson, who wrote in 1876 his account of the same incident entitled "The Loss of the Ship 'Essex'". Incidentally the classic American fictional literature "Moby Dick" was also loosely based on them.

The film, though admittedly not one of the director Ron Howard's best, is thrilling and absorbing, great CGI, a story well told and acted, contrary to the negative "boring, drawn-out" remarks by film critics, who obviously had a hand in hampering its box-office take. So once again it proves film critics reviews are not to be relied upon or taken seriously whatsoever. Worth a watch in the cinema.