In the Heart of the Sea

I was a fan of this novel when it was first released. It's one of those real-life tales that seems destined to become a movie. The short-hand version is that it's the story that inspired Herman Melville to write "Moby Dick," and the trailers really seem aimed at that portion of the story; but really, it's everything that happens after the boat sinks that's important.

The official trailer is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-H35Mpj4uk

The website for the movie is http://www.intheheartoftheseamovie.com/

It comes out December 11, and I am STOKED!

I hate to be a grammar pedant...well, I guess I don't hate to be a grammar pedant, because if I did, I wouldn't be making this post. But a "novel" is a fictional book. In the Heart of the Sea, being a non-fiction book about a Real Life historical event, is not a novel.

...and now I feel bad, because in every other way I agree with the first post. In the Heart of the Sea was a great great book, and I hope the movie lives up to the book. It should also be a good test of whether what's-his-name who played Thor has a future in something other than superhero movies. Basically, this was a great story, and a great book, and I hope Ron Howard does it justice.

You're correct about the novel/book divide. When I initially wrote the post, I think I used "book" about seven times, and needed a different word.

I wonder if the film is suffering some due to current anti-whaling sentiment. (Never mind the Galapagos tortoises, or what happens on Henderson Island.) I still think it's a thrilling tale, nonetheless.

Chris Hemsworth has worked with Ron Howard in a previous movie before, Rush, which was a movie about Formula One racing, and it's a really good movie. Hemsworth gives good performances when the material he's working with is good.

edited 29th Nov '15 12:51:43 AM by higherbrainpattern

Chris Hemsworth is a decent actor, his problem seems to be he keeps picking (Or being picked for) Thor-like characters, so he's never out of his range. What he needs is a character out of his general range, like a creepy serial killer, a vicious mobster, a bookish intellectual, something of the sort.

Maybe a psychologically-scarred sailor will be his test of fire.

"I wonder if the film is suffering some due to current anti-whaling sentiment."

Funny, not long ago I was reading a thread at the AV Club where they were asking just that, why we should sympathize with whalers.

As far as Hemsworth goes—I have no idea where I read it, but I remember a while back, sometime around when Andrew Garfield's first Spider-Man movie came out, that modern comic book movie "stars" have pretty piss-poor Q ratings. Most of these guys are just generic tall dudes who look good in tights and/or a cape. People like Hemsworth or Henry Cavill, whoever the hell he is.

edited 1st Dec '15 6:05:29 PM by jamespolk

Actually, I find Henry Cavill to be a pretty compelling actor to watch. His version of Clark Kent really embodies the spirit of the character.

Also, most comic book movie stars? Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo and Paul Rudd have all more or less proven themselves as pretty good actors at least. Hemsworth is pretty much the only Avenger (with a solo movie of his own) who has yet to earn his wings as a dramatic actor, all others have already had projects that prove their worth as actors (Downey Jr had a long career, but particularly Chaplin and Tropic Thunder, Chris Evans had Puncture and Sunshine, Paul Rudd had Prince Avalanche, Mark Ruffalo had The Normal Heart).

Hemsworth was pretty good in Rush.

edited 1st Dec '15 6:33:02 PM by Ekuran

Robert Downey aside, though, those guys aren't stars. How many people are saying to themselves "man, I can't wait for the next Mark Ruffalo movie."

I hope In the Heart of the Sea is awesome and Hemsworth is awesome in it. Hope I'm wrong.

Mark Ruffalo has been a veteran actor for years, with lots of critical and commercial roles in his repertoire. I dunno what you're even talking about.

What I was trying to get at was the difference between "veteran actor" and "star". There are tons of veteran actors out there. Steve Buscemi is a veteran actor. Brad Pitt is a star, George Clooney is a star, Jennifer Lawrence is a star. Mark Ruffalo, really good actor, personally I enjoyed You Can Count on Me—but if Mark Ruffalo doesn't want to be the Hulk in the next superhero movie, or if he asks for too much money, then they'll get someone else to be the Hulk, and nobody's going to care. Nobody will care because whatever movie the Hulk is in will have a lot of really cool CGI and explosions and whatnot, and it doesn't really matter who plays the Hulk. Like I said above—no one standing in front of the ticket office at the multiplex, who is debating what movie to go see on a Friday night, is going to be influenced either way by the presence or absence of Mark Ruffalo in a movie.

Chris Hemsworth is the same way. Or not. Hopefully not, as In the Heart of the Sea was a fantastic book and an excellent premise for a movie. I hope that the movie is good and Hemsworth helps sell it.

Why the hell are you talking about comicbook superhero actors in this thread?

Because Chris Hemsworth, who is a comicbook movie actor, is the lead in this movie?

Yup. And this film will probably be pretty important in determining whether or not Hemsworth will be a leading man outside of the Marvel universe.

Anyway...

...the thing that struck me most about the book was the account of how the whalers aboard the Essex really did not know dick about the Pacific, other than how to get to the places where the whales were. Specifically, if they had sailed west, they could probably have made it to Tahiti, which Europeans had first encountered about 50 years prior, and which was so damn awesome that the men of HMS Bounty mutinied so they could go back. But they had no idea about Tahiti or the Marquesas to the west, so they decided to sail east, to the South American mainland, and that was a really really really bad decision.

edited 1st Dec '15 8:21:28 PM by jamespolk

Interestingly, Tom Holland (the new Spider-Man) is also going to be in it as a cabin boy.

For I am hearty of heart, I say a whaler am I! I make carcasses of whales in the heart of the sea!

I think "discovered fifty years ago" had a different sort of meaning in the early 1800s — they couldn't Wikipedia the Marquesas, or find the Society Islands on Google Maps. The book also makes a point about the captain giving in to his men, which isn't necessarily the best leadership, but also not the worst, in times of crisis.

Well, true, you couldn't do a Google Image Search for Tahiti, but you'd think a sea captain on a voyage to the south Pacific would have a passing knowledge of where to go in case of disaster. Not knowing that certainly bit him in the butt.

Just saw it tonight in an advanced screening. Solid film overall. Tight plot. Pacing was even but felt a bit too quick for my liking (particularly in the second half). Just okay, by-the-numbers dialogue. Good SFX. Good cinematography. Characters didn't get much exploration, so I wasn't all too invested in their plight. But, all things considered, a solid movie, though nothing special. Kept my attention from beginning to end. Kind of felt like an extra long, top budget History Channel reenactment.

edited 2nd Dec '15 7:03:35 PM by nervmeister

^^ I think it's an accurate reflection of the day and age. Remember that a lot of the Pacific exploration had been done by foreign powers that we had just emancipated ourselves from. There was also a lot of *mis*information about those islands, and whether the island dwellers were friendly or not. Plus, I'm pretty certain both book and film mention that the whaling grounds they head toward are relatively new.

I like to compare the Essex with Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, a little less than century later. Quite a difference in technology and understanding of the world, but most importantly, of leadership.

edited 11th Dec '15 9:35:46 PM by Boston

On this website italics are formed by placing two apostrophes immediately before and after whatever you want to italicize, like so. Bold is done by using three apostrophes.

That's a pretty good comparison between the Endurance and the Essex. Certainly the story of the Endurance could have gone bad in a big hurry if they hadn't had a strong captain to keep things under control.

Anyone reminded of Jurassic World?

-Both feature a giant white animal that hates humans and has become malevolent due to humans. -Both have a character named Owen who warns others about this. -Both feature a giant sea monster. -Both take place in the eastern Pacific.

To make it creepier still, Ron Howard is directing this film and his daughter was a major character in Jurassic World.....

Lukewarm review at the AV Club which praises the visuals while indicating that the true story was cut to ribbons.

http://www.avclub.com/review/heart-sea-ravishing-and-very-corny-229524

Huh. Looks like we can forget about a sequel for the movie.

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/box-office-ron-howard-in-the-heart-of-the-sea-mockingjay-1201659486/

edited 11th Dec '15 2:23:59 PM by Mario1995