Lifting the veil on the true events that inspired Herman Melville's Moby Dick, Ron Howard's visually stunning In the Heart of the Sea is a dark and humbling experience that sees a ship full of men pushed to the brink of sanity as they attempt to stay alive after their ship is assaulted by a large, overpowering whale with a near human sense of vengeance.
Told in a unique voice, Howard utilizes his audience's familiarity with Melville's classic, opening with the now famed author ringing Mr. Nickerson, one of the ship's survivors, in an effort to gather information and details for his forthcoming novel. While the decision is understandable, the conversations between the two men are sluggish and forced, prompting one to question the validity of the story being told from the onset. Whishaw's Melville hardly ever shows any true emotion, and the conflict that arises with his sudden arrival is pushed aside with hilarious ease, making its mere presence a joke unto itself. Nevertheless, I credit Howard for his attempt to tie both past and present - even if it does come across apathetically.
One would expect the story to take off when we are finally introduced to Christ Hemsworth's Owen Chase; however, the scene is set slowly, introducing us to our leading man through direct, unapologetic cliches. From Chase's longing (and continuous struggle) to be a captain to his pregnant wife anxiously awaiting his return, everything appears to fit like a glove as Howard begs you to care for his main protagonist. But Hemsworth is unable to strike a chord, becoming just another body in the sea of men as they board the Essex and hope for a short, successful journey.
As we leisurely get introduced to the rest of the members of the ship's crew, we find ourself as uninterested with them as we were with Chase. Conflicts come and go with the breeze and we have a hard time understanding past relationships and current feelings between some of the key players. On more than one occasion the young guys are reminded that the men on the ship are their family, despite a lack of actions to support such a statement. Occasional voiceover from our storyteller helps to remind us that Tom Holland's Nickerson will survive the journey, but there is never anyone to root for as the film fails to trigger any level of emotion for any of the characters who are offered up as a central focus.
Whale sightings come and go, and the film begins to drift apart at the seam, mimicking the men at sea as it becomes a tiresome labor to stay engrossed in the details that finally begin to take shape. But even when the film reaches its pivotal scene and we witness the absolute destruction of the Essex by a mammoth of a creature, the film still feels flat. Falling victim to chaos, the brilliance of the cinematography is lost early on. The result is mass disappointment with your experience, cursing the sea for such a blunder.
That isn't to say that the visuals aren't cosmic"¦they are. But somewhere along the way Howard appears to forget the story he is telling, instead focusing on the beauty that surrounds nature and its inhabitants. True, the film benefits greatly from the aesthetics that the Oscar winning director generates; however, you can't help but struggle with just how gripping things could have been.
As the survivors of the attack work tirelessly to stay alive, the film descends into a dark place. The overall theme goes from a high powered disaster film to a deep, somber character study as we witness men struggle through starvation, despair, anger, panic and uncertainty; ultimately turning to the unthinkable as they drift aimlessly at sea.
It is during this point that the film hits its stride (from a storytelling stance at least). Here Howard is able to fully dissect his characters, offering up an unusual sense of discomfort as you witness once powerful men diminish before your eyes. Their struggles are front and center as they shed pounds and their dignity as they spend three months drifting at sea.
Cillian Murphy, though earning limited screen time, offers up the most complete performance of anyone involved. His portrayal of Matthew Joy is both entertaining and enriching as you witness a man push through his limits and hold tight to his integrity. His performance is authentic, his dialogue exchanges genuine, bringing a rare spark to the otherwise bore of a film. Sadly, the man gets sifted to the background, literally left for dead as we sit through over two hours of monotony, begging to reverse history and allow the whale to succeed in the vengeance that he so strongly desires.
