Directed by:
Ron HowardScreenplay:
Charles LeavittCinematography:
Anthony Dod MantleComposer:
Roque BañosCast:
Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson, Jordi Mollà, Tom Holland, Charlotte Riley, Joseph Mawle, Edward Ashley (more)VOD (1)
Plots(1)
In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville's Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story. "In the Heart of the Sea" reveals the encounter's harrowing aftermath, as the ship's surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down. (Warner Bros. US)
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Reviews (13)
It's beautiful to look at. Neither the excessive digitalisation, nor the insistent knowledge that this is artificial soundstage spectacle of the purest kind prevented me from getting carried away by the dynamic visual design, which Howard has been doing well for a long time. I also didn't mind the retrospective with frequent cuts to the narrator, on the contrary, it added a welcome dose of humanity and believability to the story. What bothered me, however, was the script, or rather most of it, which, instead of focusing on one strong theme that with peripheral secondary motifs, jumps furiously between completely different perspectives, thus fragmenting the story into several rather harshly connected intellectual episodes. It shifts between a testimony about the corrupt whaling business of the 19th century, a psychological battle between two dominant crew members, a mythical adventure against a formidable enemy, and a physically painful survival drama, but in the end, it cuts corners everywhere and is nothing more than a routine Hollywood recitation of an ambitious multi-layered story that looks beautiful on the big screen but would not have caught on at festivals for even a slightly discerning audience. 65%
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A notch down in quality after Rush, of course, but you wouldn’t have expected otherwise with this slow historical tale. Howard knows how to get the sea atmosphere right, and he knows how to work with a generous production design. Pity about the CGI, is not only artificial at first glance (it almost always is), but also not very pretty to watch. But the treatment of the original story is generally on par, and unlike its contemporary on the same level, Bridge of Spies, also occupying cinemas, this film has a lot more life, personality and emotion. Roque Baños will be the new Hans Zimmer in a few years.
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Ron Howard doesn’t make bad movies. But sometimes he just misses the mark. The few scenes at the table where the story begins and ends are more powerful than the cruise itself. The plot that plays out on the ship proceeds by presenting the individual characters in an unoriginal way and putting them in predictable conflicts. Moreover, Howard
doesn’t make the most of their roles in the story and, first and foremost, he does not quite know what he wants to say
with this film. There are several themes, but none of them serves as the driving force of the film. We’ve got a conflict
between the captain and the first officer, the pursuit of wealth culminating in a tragedy, and reflections on how far you
can go to save your own life. But it is all just routinely suggested and does not drive the story forward. The most
controversial element of the film is the killing of the animals, which is supposed to turn our characters into heroes
fulfilling their great roles so that they can return home to their families. The time for such stories has long since passed.
The movie is pleasant to watch, especially for female viewers. But it’s not the riveting spectacle we expected from Howard. All of the elements that appeal to the audience were already shown in the action-packed trailer and the work with the characters, which would have given it some sort of dramatic arc, is too weak.
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A digital sea, a famously moving camera, and useless protagonists. Howard's confident dexterity handles things for the first half, but the second half, when the waves calm down, is accompanied by his traditional pain - zero passion. The characters speak from behind fake beards and swollen lips, but there’s really no emotion to it. Fail. 2 and a ½. PS: The digi visual is the ultimate cornea-burning bullshit.
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What is a letdown for me is that "story-telling" line provides disproportionately more interesting characters (and also actors) than the "narrative" line where only shallow characters show up. And while Hemsworth carries the movies, at least because of his charisma, Walker doesn't. What is an even a bigger letdown is that it is often so obviously digital. There are not so many movies where it is so obvious that the actors are standing in front of a green screen in the studio, and all the rising waves and sea vermin are added subsequently. But even this can be done in such a way that you will not know it, but this is not the case. This is highlighted by the fact that, with a few exceptions, the camera zooms in on the actors’s faces and bodies in these scenes, which is rather unusual. Fortunately, there aren't that many these scenes, and as soon as it takes place in classic interiors and locations, it suddenly works much better. And why did I use a word letdown when talking about these two shortcomings? Because otherwise it's true classic (maybe too much though) manly old school maritime adventure movie about survival.
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