On the surface,
In the Heart of the Sea looks great. But that's where the movie more or less ends for me. Since this movie is based on
Moby Dick, or at least that's what I thought going into this, I was expecting a lot more. The flick turned out to be a "story" that inspired
Moby Dick and is not a literal translation of the book. As I said, the movie looks great and I really like the framing device used in telling the story to
Herman Melville who would go on to write said book. Even the whaling stuff was good. But....and this is a BIG BUT, there isn't much of that. It's sporadic and confined to a small part of the flick. The rest of the movie is more talking heads than anything else and furthermore, the movie isn't even really about the Whale as it's more about what happens to people that are stranded at sea and are forced to do unspeakable things in order to survive. I look at this more as a character study instead of any kind of Action Flick.
Chris Hemsworth is solid in his role and
Ron Howard does a good job visually. But the story itself is kind light on substance. Can't recommend this as a
Rent if I never intend to watch this again. Stick with the book and forego the movie.