In The Heart Of The Sea Film Review

Finished watching In The Heart Of The Sea directed by Ron Howard and staring Ben Whishaw, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker and Tom Holland. The film opens up in 1850 with writer Herman Melville (Ben Whishaw) meeting with the last surviving crew member of the whaling ship the Essex, Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson) in hope to get inspiration for his book, Moby Dick. The film then flashes back to 1820 where the Essex's first mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) is told by his bosses that he will not be captaining the ship after being promised a captainship on his next voyage. Instead the inexperienced George Pollard (Benjamin Walker) is appointed captain as the Essex's crew is assembled which includes a young Thomas Nickerson (Tom Holland) as the crew set sail for the Atlantic. After not having much luck in the Atlantic the crew head over to the Pacific in hoping to find enough whale oil to fill their containers on the ship, however this inadvertently leads the crew to the monstrous white whale. Overall this was a great film as it dived into the true story that inspired Moby Dick while bringing great emotion to the way the story is told. The character interactions are great as each crew member has their chance to shine within the film while the scenes with the crew stranded in their lifeboats helps to bring over some of the most drama between the characters. While the emotional elements that come from the older Thomas works incredibly well within the film as it helps to make the story more personal with it being told by Thomas' point of view. The camerawork is great as the range of angles and shots help show the incredible amount of detail the prop, costume and makeup departments have made while the use of special effects helps to enforce this especially during the scenes with the whales which are breathtaking. 8.5/10.