Adrift Review
PG13: for injury images, peril, language, brief drug use, partial nudity and thematic elementsSTXfilms, Lakeshore Entertainment, Ingenious Media, RVK Studios, Huayi Brothers Pictures1 Hr and 36 MinutesDir: Baltasar Kormákur | Writers: Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell, David Branson SmithCast: Shailene Woodley, Sam ClaflinFinnick and Tris get lost at sea. As Mr. Peanutbutter says:
I was just waiting for that scene where they come across Robert Redford or Pi and Richard Parker, but alas not.
Adrift is loosely based on the true story of two avid sailors, Tami Oldham and Richard Sharp, who set out on a journey across the ocean in 1983 and sailed directly into a hurricane. In the aftermath of the storm, Tami awakens to find Richard badly injured and their boat in ruins, and has to find a way to save them both.THE GOODOnce an actor puts their name on the producing credit, not only does it show their faith in a project but it also shows that she or he has put their all into their performance and wants to be recognized for it. By god is Woodley acting her ass off. Thank Goodness she left those Divergent movies behind her and moved on to bigger and more mature roles such as “Big Little Lies” where she delivered a brilliant performance alongside all these experienced actresses. Between those Divergent films and “Big Little Lies” you can see her growth as a powerful actress and it shows in “Adrift” where she is (both literally and figuratively) steering the ship with her performance. She’s not this glamorous heroine who has to save the world, but a woman who tragically must overcome the events she went through in order to save herself.
One great aspect that I love about this movie is the switch of gender roles where Tami is wearing the pants in the relationship. Not only by the fact that she is doing everything in order to keep Richard and herself alive, but even beforehand when it displays their relationship. Tami is the one who initiates romantic gestures that usually guys do and Richard is on the receiving end of that. There is a cute moment where she has to explain who Bob Ross is to him and she sees him blushing and cradles him as he giggles. Relationships like that aren’t seen that much in film so I appreciate how it shows that men don’t always have to be masculine in movies.THE BADThough the romance between Richard and Tami is cute to watch, their dialogue is absolutely terrible. It isn’t just the generic ‘I love you” that makes it unbearable, but some of their conversations and how they interact is just uncomfortably awkward. The two leads have chemistry, but they just come across as that couple who work best with only each other and not anyone else. Here's an example of actual dialogue from the film.“Oh man, it is true that all men want to marry their mother. Oh, fuck. Did I just ask you to marry me in the voice of my dead mother?”A woman in my audience goes, “Is that what it was?”The entire audience (comprised of 12 people) started cracking up, including myself, because THAT DIALOGUE IS TERRIBLE!
I’m unsure if my review of director Baltasar Kormákur’s previous feature “Everest” is present on the site (when I used to be a shite reviewer) but I remember not being a fan of the film. The movie was brilliant in the technical aspects, especially when it came to displaying its 3D effects, but story wise it lacked substance for it just displayed the deaths of the characters who abandoned their families to hike up the world's most dangerous mountain. While Kormákur does a great job displaying this true story as focused drama that isn’t effects heavy (but still is fantastic for the one sequence you have), you kind of wished the overall story was tightly constructed.The way how this story is structured is similar to a lot of films these days where it plays with time. While Woodley is going through this shipwreck with Richard it overlays flashbacks to the start of her romance with Richard and events leading up to them getting drifted by a storm and stranded at sea. Because of this format, you’re making the overall story a mess especially whenYou attempt to have a twist that other films achieved better, but comes off as predictable when the film opens up.You have scenes of Tami and Richard on the boat so it’s confusing whenever time switches back and forth.It relies only on jump cuts without any rhyme or reason.
This was the same format that the recent film “On Chesil Beach” had, but it worked in that film’s favor because of the story and what it built up to.If this narrative was more [pun intended] streamlined, then the emotional impact the film wants you to have would’ve been effective. Because of the format being so loose, it ends up as detrimental to the audience having any emotional resonance.LAST STATEMENTWhile “Adrift” prospers from Shailene Woodley’s amazing performance, it’s clunky narrative structure prevents this dramatized true story from being the captivating emotional romance film it intended to be.Rating: 2.5/5 | 57%Super scene: Tami finds some drugs.
