"In the Heart of the Sea" *Non-Spoiler* Review

I went into Ron Howard’s In the Heart of the Sea as my 2^nd most anticipated December movie, so one could say I had very high expectations for it. Though Heart of the Sea was a good movie, it was somewhat disappointing because the premise had so much potential. In the Heart of the Sea is based on the 1820 whaling event the brought about the famous novel Moby Dick. Some of the aspects which turned me off were the execution of the story, character development, and pacing. The premise of this movie was so fascinating to me that the instant I saw the first trailer I was hooked on the movie. There were parts in the film that were jaw dropping but then were immediately followed up with a snoozer of a scene. There was a magnitude of intense sequences that were canceled out by a dull moment afterwards. This is very unlike a Ron Howard movie but unfortunately was the movie’s biggest flaw. The last thing that got to me was there was really no character development in the film. The only character I cared about was Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), and that’s only because I am a big Hemsworth fan.  Tom Nickerson, played by both Brendan Gleeson and Tom Holland, is the narrator of the film, so there was no fear that he was going to die. The rest of the crew was just not given enough time for us to get to know them and fear for the lives. Remember, I did say this was a good movie, so there are obviously facets of this film that I enjoyed. The spectacle of In the Heart of Sea was just magnificent to watch. As stated above, there were so many breathe taking action sequences that had me in awe. Also, the film did a tremendous job making me feel as if I was aboard the Essex along with the crew. Finally, the performances were outstanding. Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Brendan Gleeson, and Ben Whishaw all gave grade A performances. The scenes between Gleeson and Whishaw were by far the best parts of the film.

Conclusion: While In the Heart of the Sea did not meet my lofty expectations, it was still a rather enjoyable film to watch. Even though there is not much that is special about it, it is still a movie people can sit down and get something out of. There were many great spectacles in the film that made me wide eyed, but were too often followed by dull moments that pulled me right back out. The actors all five great performances but are hampered by the lack of development their characters are given. In the Heart of the Sea is not a must see, but it is a nice place holder as we all wait one more week until Star Wars.

SCORE:                 7/10   -  GOOD