“In the Heart of the Sea”

Howard has a string of directorial gems to his credit to include “Apollo 13” (20 years ago!), “A Beautiful Mind”, and the Formula 1 racing film, “Rush”.

Here he teams up again with Australian actor Chris Hemsworth (“Rush”), who is also well known for his role as “Thor”.  I expect that his appearance increases revenues from female viewers substantially!

The dramatic tale of the Nantucket whaling ship, the Essex,  is the backstory and inspiration for Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”.

Howard’s directorial touch is apparent in this beautifully filmed adventure and tragedy at sea.  Hemsworth is perfectly cast as the swashbuckling First Mate, Mr. Chase.  By rights he should be Captain of the Essex, but the Pollard family’s long history of whaling summarily bumps him aside in favor of the far less capable George Pollard, ably played by Benjamin Walker, an alum of Julliard.

The movie moves back and forth while the last survivor of the Essex, Tom Nickerson reluctantly unveils the horrors of the ordeal to a young Melville.  He had never spoken a word of what happened after he returned from the sinking as a young boy.  Brendan Gleeson, who I loved in two fairly recent film, “In Bruges” and “Calvary”, is marvelous as the hard drinking recluse trying to forget the past.  His wife, played by Michelle Fairley (Catelyn Stark for “Game of Thrones” fans) encourages him to cooperate with the young Melville.  Ben Whishaw plays the earnest Melville.  He is an acclaimed British stage actor who has been lauded for his work, most notably as Hamlet in a Trevor Nunn production some ten years ago.  Some called him the next Olivier.

The story unfolds  and Howard masterfully pulls it off to a satisfying conclusion.  The scenes with the monster whale are spectacular, as are the ones depicting the frantic work by the crew to expertly maneuver the ship in clear seas and in calamitous circumstances.

The movie is also playing in 3D although I saw it in 2D.  I do not believe that 3D would enhance it that much as it is gorgeous and gripping as is.

If you are in the mood for a bit of a white knuckle, hair raising ride, with a peek into the Nantucket of the 1800’s , “In the Heart of the Sea” is the ticket.  Enjoy!