I loved In the Heart of the Sea, the book, and I almost saw it in the theater, but two things stopped me. First, In the Heart of the Sea is directed by Ron Howard, who receives accolades disproportionate to his actual talent. Second, In the Heart of the Sea stars Chris Hemsworth. Unless Hemsworth is Thor, or the movie has some relation to nerds such as Joss Whedon or JJ Abrams, his movies are not that great: Snow White and the Huntsman (which I liked, but no) and Blackhat.
In the Heart of the Sea is about the real life story that inspired Moby Dick. Somehow In the Heart of the Sea as a movie is worse than I expected. I had to stop giving it my full attention, left the living room couch and watched it while I balanced my budget and paid my bills to make it more enjoyable. In the Heart of the Sea is the perfect multi-tasking film because the themes are so broad and heavy-handed, that the film would be better as a tv movie than something that you watch in a theater.
In the Heart of the Sea is closer to The Bounty than the struggle between man and nature, but we already have The Bounty, so In the Heart of the Sea is just superfluous. There is a lot of scene chewing clashes between the god of thunder, who was born to a farming family, but has a lot of ability, and the captain, who is part of an elite seafaring family. When disaster strikes, In the Heart of the Sea morphs into a film about corporate greed and the willingness to sacrifice human life in exchange for profit. There are scenic footnotes regarding environmentalism and animals cruelty, but instead of being majestic touchstones, they feel like afterthoughts to make In the Heart of the Sea germane to the kids.
In the Heart of the Sea comes from great source material, an award winning non-fiction book, but the movie ruined the story. In the Heart of the Sea, the movie, decided that a surviving cabin boy would tell the story to Herman Melville. I love any opportunity to see the eternally magnificent Brendan Gleeson and Michelle Fairley, who played Mama Stark on Game of Thrones, but by choosing a narrator who could not have possibly known everything that he related to, In the Heart of the Sea made itself ridiculous. The cabin boy wasn’t the confidante to the captain or his first mate. How does he know all of these stories? Dear filmmakers, when you decide to use a narrative device, ask yourself if it makes sense or is consistent. In the Heart of the Sea possibly had Ancient Mariner poetic ambitions, but it did not work.
Side note: when did we decide that Ben Whishaw needed to be in everything: Skyfall, Spectre, Suffragette and The Danish Girl? I’m happy that he is successful, but if he was not in everything, I would not even notice him. Initially I get excited because I think it is Christopher Gorham, who played Henry in Ugly Betty, but it is not, then I get disappointed. I need him to do on screen whatever he is doing in auditions. I’m sorry. I feel nothing. He is always the same one note, but he must be a great person to work with.
Maybe he should hang out with Frank Dillane, who appears a handful of times in In the Heart of the Sea, but steals every scene. His dad was Stannis in Game of Thrones. He is always intense and committed to every role. I only saw him in Fear the Walking Dead as a drug addict, but he is always memorable. I think that he can steal the crown of acting from Johnny Depp, who squandered my goodwill ages ago.
If you want something on tv to keep you company in the background, but don’t actually want to watch it, In the Heart of the Sea is the perfect movie for you.