In The Heart Of The Sea

JETHRO'S LOG

 DECEMBER 16th, 2015

The following is the account of the character, Jethro T. Cat. Not me, the author. 

So I'm walking out of the cineplex when an old-man comes up to me. "Call me Ishmael..." he says.

"I'll call you Ishmael if you call me a cab." I respond. "Because I need to get home from watching In The Heart Of The Sea yesterday."

"There was a ship, quoth he."quoth ... he.

Now you're quoting Coolridge.

Next thing I know, he takes my arm. "Unhand me, you grey beard loon!" I shout as I yank my arm away from him. I realize now I'm quoting Coolridge too. I proceed with the review.

FIRST PARAGRAPH

Director Ron Howard's sea-faring adventure In The Heart Of The Sea was supposed to come out back in March. But Warner Bros. decided to make it their December event movie. Why? I don't know. Let's see what I know about this movie.

PLOT

In the framing device, downtrodden Thomas Hickerson (Brendan Gleeson) reluctantly talks to author Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw). Melville has a whale of a tale to tell, one he calls Moby Dick. But he'd like to hear Hickerson's tale for more inspiration.

In 1820, the whaling ship Essex sets out for its latest voyage. The captain is George Pollard (Benjamin Walker), a stuck-up rich man. His first mate is Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth), a humble farmer. Tom Hickerson (Tom Holland) is the cabin boy. They set out to fill 200 barrels of precious whale oil. When they reach the South Pacific, they find lots of moving targets. But they're really sitting ducks when they go for a certain White Whale. The Whale sinks their ship and leaves them stranded at sea.

What follows for the Essex crew is the worst three months of their lives. They starve, go insane and bicker. Meanwhile, the White Whale stalks them across the seas. Mr. Pollard and Mr. Chase have to co-operate if they want themselves and their crew to survive.

GOOD and BAD

The screenplay came from Nathaniel Philbrick's non-fiction book of the same name. It spends its first hour or so showing the "fine" details of whaling. It moves along quicker when Moby Dick shows up. The dramatic scenes give us plenty of characters who are mostly given little detail. That makes it hard to feel sad when they start dying. The tense relationship between Owen and George made the long parts watchable. But young Hickerson barely did much in the plot...

The chief attraction of the film is Moby Dick himself. His size is enormous but his temperament makes him terrifying. He stalks the crew even after he sinks the Essex and is so persistent that, for all we know, he might do the same to whatever ships pick them up. Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle captures his size perfectly, though the film's murky blue-yellow look might turn some off.

AND SO...

In The Heart Of The Sea is another well-meaning account of a fascinating subject. But its storytelling makes this voyage a slow boat ride to wherever. You might say its pace comes from its fidelity to fact, but it takes liberties with the facts too! But if you must see it, see it for the "real" Moby Dick. He may barely be in the movie, but Moby makes for an impressive movie monster.

EPILOGUE

And now if you excuse me, "Ishmael" is back.