In The Heart Of The Sea

Don’t call me Ishmael. Call me uninspired.

Set in the mid-1800’s, Ben Wishaw stars as Herman Melville – the author seeking inspiration for what he hopes will be one of the greatest novels ever written. He wants to tell the tale of The Essex – a whaling ship that suffered from a legendary, unfathomable, massive maritime disaster, but Melville has to convince the last survivor, Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleason), to give him all the details about the time a massive white whale attacked his boat and crew with horrific consequences.

With that, Tom takes us back to the 1820’s where Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker) and First Mate Chase (Chris Hemsworth) set sail for glory and riches, but their plans for the voyage soon go awry.

In The Heart Of The Sea lacks inspiration and the needed connection with the audience to make us care about the characters on the screen.

Worst of all, the whale looks phony. He might be as bored as you and I sitting in the audience.

As written by Charles Leavitt, In The Heart Of The Sea (based on the book by Nathaniel Philbrick) is the blandest, bleakest and most depressing movie of the holiday season, so Merry Christmas!

Director Ron Howard seems to be taking us from action scene to action scene without the character development, establishment of relationships and dialogue that would make the movie compelling. It’s not on the pages in the script.

Howard is able to deliver some interesting visuals as we get a feel for the visceral, disgusting atmosphere of a 19th century whaler full of danger at every turn and a cast of questionable characters with differing motives and goals. However, none of that rich tapestry is mined for stories, and conflict beyond paying those ideas lip service.

Sadly, Hemsworth, usually a very good actor, isn’t helping matters.

Sometimes, Hemsworth sounds like he is playing a character from New England.

Other times, Hemsworth sounds like he is playing a character from England.

By the time the story rolls around to his most riveting moments, the audience has been lost.

In The Heart Of The Sea is nothing more than filler as the world prepares for next week’s premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

In The Heart OF The Sea is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and peril, brief startling violence, and thematic material.