In The Heart Of The Sea

This review may contain spoilers!

This could have been big and powerful if it had had the courage to take risks and be bold. I would give In The Heart Of The Sea a 6.5/10.

This film was really good at presenting an experience; you quickly became quite invested in seeing these men sail, hunt whales and try to survive 'Moby Dick'. The cinematography was really good when it came to big establishing shots that took in the incredible sets or visual effects; it felt like you were looking at well painted canvasses at times. The special effects were another stunning visual feat; I really loved how realistic the whales looked in this film. However it was the incredible score that made this film stand out; while some aspects of the film were lacking the score consistently rose to the occasion and is one of my favourites of the year.

Chris Hemsworth, who played Owen Chase, gives probably his best performance since Thor; he has such a strong physical presence as ship first mate in this film. Ben Whishaw, who played Herman Melville, played really strongly against Gleeson in this film; I liked that even he got to bear his vulnerabilities as a writer. Charlotte Riley, who played Peggy, wasn't in the film much but was as powerful as Hemsworth when she was onscreen; I thought her emotional reaction to Hemsworth's homeward return was really powerful. Benjamin Walker, who played George Pollard, was really good at playing a character you started to dislike at first; however Walker really took this role upon an incredible journey of growth and development. Michelle Fairley, who played Mrs Nickerson, had some incredible chemistry with Gleeson; I loved her reaction to his confession of committing cannibalism.

However the best performance came from Brendan Gleeson, who played Old Thomas Nickerson. Gleeson is the perfect person to guide the model of the film's plot; his incredible performance and emotional unfolding of his character make his scenes some of the best of the film. He has a lot of chemistry with Whishaw and Fairley, the only actor and actress he interacts with in the film. What really makes Gleeson's performance stand out is the scene in which he confesses to having commit cannibalism, it's very intense and Gleeson performs it brilliantly.

This film feels too long and there are scenes that drag out, the pacing could have been a lot better. The plot really fails it's characters because none of the figures in this film are really developed enough for you to care about them. The cinematography has some good establishing shots but the director also plays around too much with experimentation, there a few sequences where you are snapped out of the film because it's very obvious you're watching things through a lens. The editing is really slow and doesn't help the dragged out pacing; a film of this scale should have been cut together better.

Tom Holland, who played Young Thomas Nickerson, doesn't really live up to Gleeson's older portrayal of this role; in fact Holland doesn't have much screen presence and is a weak performer compared to the rest of his castmates. Cillian Murphy, who played Matthew Joy, was a character who wasn't explored enough in this film; he was supposed to have a big backstory with Hemsworth but it was never explored. Frank Dillane, who played Owen Coffin, felt out of place in this film; he was too erratic and felt artificial in his performance. Donald Sumpter, who played Paul Macy, isn't a very convincing authoritative figure; he doesn't really stack up against Hemsworth. Edward Ashley, who played Barzallai Ray, is supposed to be close with Holland's role but the two of them have no chemistry; frankly Ashley has zero screen presence in this film.