If Angelina Jolie’s story of WWII plane crash survivors fighting off sharks in Unbroken isn’t your bag, maybe Ron Howard’s story of 19th century shipwrecked whalers fighting off whales will be. Chris Hemsworth stars in In The Heart Of The Sea, the story of a group of Nantucket whalers on the whaleship Essex, whose boat was destroyed by a massive sperm whale and sent the crew adrift on small whale boats where they eventually resorted to cannibalism. The tale became legendary and partly inspired Herman Melville to write Moby Dick.
Oscar winner Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind”) directs the action adventure “In the Heart of the Sea,” starring Chris Hemsworth, Benjamin Walker and Cillian Murphy, based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s best-selling book about the dramatic true journey of the Essex.
In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex was assaulted by something no one could believe: a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance. The real-life maritime disaster would inspire Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. But that told only half the story. “In the Heart of the Sea” reveals the encounter’s harrowing aftermath, as the ship’s surviving crew is pushed to their limits and forced to do the unthinkable to stay alive. Braving storms, starvation, panic and despair, the men will call into question their deepest beliefs, from the value of their lives to the morality of their trade, as their captain searches for direction on the open sea and his first mate still seeks to bring the great whale down.
I read the book. It had a lot of tortoises in it. Like, a lot of tortoises. I’ll go for the whale stuff, but I’m going to be pissed if they skimp on the tortoises. Consider yourself warned, Mr. Howard.