Ron Howard's latest film is a fictionalized version of the true story that was the basis for Herman Melville's epic Moby Dick. The movie opens in 1850 when Melville (Ben Wishaw) meets with the last survivor of the Essex, Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson). So, right out the gate the story ignores history. In fact, both First Mate Chase (died 1869) and Captain Pollard (died 1870) were still living as were several others. Melville has chosen the cabin boy as his primary source. Nickerson begins his tale in 1819 by explaining how Captain George Pollard Jr. (Benjamin Walker) and Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth) had only just met (in fact, this was not their first whaling voyage together). Young Tom Nickerson (Tom Holland) signed on just before the Essex set sail. The first encounter for the unhappy crew was a storm that caused considerable damage, the responsibility for the damage clearly laid at Pollard's feet. After a year of sailing, they have hardly any whale oil but are told by some Spanish whalers of a vast number of whales thousands of miles out to sea but also mention a murderous white whale who sank their ship. Desperate, the Essex sets out and finds more than enough whales to fill the hold with oil. However, a white whale attacks the Essex, sinking it. Using the whaleboats with jury-rigged sails, the crew takes three months to return to civilization. The movie has the whale track them during this three month journey and kill some more of them. Only Chase's act of not throwing a harpoon convinces the whale to let them go in peace. Uh huh.
The story of a whaling ship being sunk by a whale and the survivors having to eat their dead crewmates in order to survive wasn't exciting enough. Owen Chase wrote an account of the events in 1821 that the real Melville used as inspiration, which makes the Melville-Nickerson interview mostly pointless. There was no hidden story that Melville was uncovering 30 years after the events. Though virtually every character we see has made a living through whaling, there is a strong anti-whaling message in the movie. The whale is the hero and the characters are deserving of their fate.
The CGI was very disappointing and even distracting. The dolphins leaping in the water, the gloomy skyline from Nantucket, the backdrop from the Chase home are all really bad. When it was purely CGI, such as the whales underwater, it was not so bad but whenever the actors were in front of a green screen, it was obvious. The worst of it was when the whaleboats were on a "Nantucket sleighride" and it was 'filmed' from a camera that was catching the glare of the sun and getting splashed. Though clearly intended to immerse the viewer, it had the reverse effect. Really, who wants to get splashed in the face while a flashlight is shining in your eyes?
The tacked on Melville research story is mostly a waste of time and only serves to interrupt the voyage of the Essex. If there is a desire to explain that the Essex is the inspiration for the Pequod, then just say that up front:
The adventure that inspired Herman Melville's Moby Dick!
Look at that, I just shaved twenty minutes from the film. This would also lift the constant feeling of dread that assails the film. Some added humor that didn't involve young Nickerson vomiting would have been nice. Maybe provide some more likable characters so that the audience cares that they survive. There is a great story here, as Melville's efforts attest, but Howard failed to tell it. The white whale as avenging angel story arc undercut the harrowing tale of survival. Really, the whalers got what was coming to them for engaging in such a barbarous trade! Is it any wonder the movie flopped?
Skip this and watch Moby Dick instead. I particularly enjoyed Patrick Stewart as Captain Ahab in the 1998 version. Gregory Peck even had a cameo.
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