FilmSnobReviews

Title: In the Heart of the Sea
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Ron Howard
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw
Runtime: 2 hrs 2 mins

What It Is: The first mate on the good ship Essex Owen Chase (Hemsworth and Brendan Gleeson) recalls the events of a whale attack. Writer Herman Melville (Whishaw) pays Chase as an older man to hear the story of the Essex’ demise. We hear a whale of a tale involving just how the ever important material of whale oil is harvested. There’s a danger, around every knot of land. As they head towards the white whale they’ve only heard about they’re unsure of what lies ahead.

What We Think: Oh boy! This is one of the most boring pictures of 2015. Not only is this so damned disappointing because of the pedigree behind it, but the potential it had. Even with the giant CGI whale surfing through this film it really brought nothing to the table. Hemsworth was nothing to write home about and it really just didn’t work. Ron Howard is spectacularly mediocre with his direction most of which is just sticking a camera in front of the subjects and doing nothing with it. Brendan Gleeson crushes it as the older version of Owen Chase. That is something worth mentioning.

Our Grade: C-, So after the disappointment and boredom we aren’t left with anything worth mention outside of your initial viewing. Such a sad year for Chris Hemsworth with Blackhat being a mess and a bomb. Avenger: Age of Ultron was not what audiences wanted. I’m going to avoid talking about Vacation but I’ll mention that Hemsworth was the standout. Now this, hopefully, 2016 will be a little bit better for him. I’m not certain it can get a whole lot worse. I still think it is a good idea for Howard to use Hemsworth as his muse as the guy is a freaking star.