Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker, Cillian Murphy, Tom Holland, Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Riley, Michelle Fairley
Running time:
Rating: 12A
Release date: December 26th, 2015
Clint Eastwood and Ben Affleck are two actor-turned-directors who have managed to achieve great success in the latter whilst doing really well in the former.
One other name that comes to mind is Ron Howard, who started out as an actor, notably as Steve in George Lucas‘ AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973) and as Richie Cunningham in HAPPY DAYS, which ran from the late 1970s and spawned no fewer than three spin-offs, LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY, MORK AND MINDY and JOANIE LOVES CHACHI.
However, he has made more significant in-roads as a director. His first film, NIGHT SHIFT (1982), co-starred his HAPPY DAYS cohort, Henry Winkler, but also introduced Michael Keaton and Shelley (CHEERS) Long to the frame.
His second film, SPLASH (1984), helped to confirm Tom Hanks and the late John Candy as leading names. Subsequent films included the following – COCOON (1985), which gave Don Ameche a Supporting Actor Oscar, WILLOW (1988) launched the career of Warwick Davis post-Ewok, not to mention (briefly) being the matchmaker for Val Kilmer and Joanne (SCANDAL) Whalley, BACKDRAFT (1991) gave an insight into the lives of firemen starring Kurt Russell and William Baldwin, RANSOM (1996), a remake of an old Glenn Ford vehicle, gave Mel Gibson one of his most successful non-MAX / LETHAL WEAPON roles, A BEAUTIFUL MIND (2002), won Jennifer Connelly a Best Supporting Actress nod in the tale of John Nash, a Nobel Prize Winner, FROST/NIXON (2008) was the hugely successful film adaptation of the Peter Morgan play which chronicled the immortal David Frost interviews, with Michael Sheen as Frost and Frank Langella as President Richard Nixon; and most recently, RUSH (2013), which chronicled the 1970s rivalry between James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl).
His latest film, IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, re-teams him with RUSH co-star Hemsworth in a tale that chronicles the inspirational adventure behind the classic novel Moby Dick. I have to say that it ranks as one of the most visually stunning movies I have seen – and certainly one of the best of the year.
The story focuses on the rivalry and camaraderie that befalls the whaling ship Essex in it’s bid to capture gallons of whaling oil in the South Atlantic, in particular the relationship between Captain George Pollard Jr. (Benjamin Walker) and first mate Owen Chase (Hemsworth). Chase is miffed that he isn’t captain of the Essex and becomes concerned at Pollard’s desire to send the ship into storm-infested waters.
However, their determination is initially rewarded when they manage to spot and focus on a whale in the area they are navigating, but it becomes clear that nature has other plans for them….
Given his handling of both character and visual effects-based storytelling with the likes of RANSOM, BACKDRAFT and APOLLO 13, Howard is the right choice to direct this absorbing tale of the sea. If you liked MASTER AND COMMANDER, THE BOUNTY and THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, there is much to savour in this film, which relies as much on consistency in the acting department, as the subtleties of skillfully co-ordinated Digital and physical effects.
Although I myself can confess to not having read or seen any of the book or film versions of MOBY DICK, IN THE HEART OF THE SEA is a film that once again demonstrates the true power of story and what the whole motif of man vs. nature represents, a facet that has been paying dividends with other films like DELIVERANCE (1972).
There are some spectacular sequences rendered and the location work (partly shot in the Canary Islands) is exquisitely shot by Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, who provided camerawork for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and 127 HOURS, as well as RUSH.
Walker and Hemsworth are excellent as Pollard and Chase and evoke memories of a similar sea-faring conflict in Roger Donaldson’s THE BOUNTY (1984) between Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh and Mel Gibson as Fletcher Christian, which was scripted by Robert (LAWRENCE OF ARABIA) Bolt and music by Vangelis.
It is always encouraging to see the effects played out gradually and it is a testament to Double Negative who lead the FX houses that their variety of ideas are mixed together with the out-at-sea footage, as well as staged and incidental scenes shot at Warner Bros Studios Leavesden.
18 years ago, James Cameron showed what is possible with his mega-award winner TITANIC. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA continues that tradition of good, honest, escapist film-making.
Verdict
Don’t forget, you can watch the European Premiere interviews with the cast and creators of IN THE HEART OF THE SEA here.
