Adrift

Adrift

Starring Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin, Jeffrey Thomas, Elizabeth Hawthorne

Directed by Balthasar Kormakur

The Story:
Tami Oldham (Shailene Woodley) is a free-spirited young woman who wants to travel the world, and while working at a boating dock in Tahiti she meets boater Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin), and the two begin a whirlwind romance.  When he's asked to take a 44-foot yacht from Tahiti to San Diego (a 4,000-mile journey), they jump at the chance to make some money and spend some quiet time together.  Then the encounter Hurricane Raymond, and the boat is nearly destroyed.  Richard suffers serious injuries, and it's up to Tami to find a way to shore before they die alone at sea.

The Synopsis:
I'm always a sucker for a true survivor story.  I am baffled at how the body, mind, and spirit of a person adapts to the most dire situation and finds a way to survive somehow, and that's the allure of "Adrift" from acclaimed director Balthasar Kormakur.  At the heart of the story is a tale of epic survival against insurmountable odds, all the more powerful because it actually happened in real life.

Shailene Woodley is an excellent actress, and here she's really given some true meat to work off of.  The film is a small effort, with very few supporting characters (the only other people we actually meet are the married older couple who hires Richard and Tami), so the film heavily relies on the two main leads to carry the tale, and Woodley performs tremendously.  Claflin, for his effort, also adds to the story, but since he spends most of the time severely injured and unable to do anything, is relegated to the background throughout the most important parts of the film.  Woodley balances youthful enthusiasm with a true survivor spirit that keeps you riveted even in the most mundane scenes.

Watching the trailer, I was at first bored in seeing the love story, but then the hurricane hits and all hell breaks loose, and that's when I became invested in the story.  Thankfully, Kormakur doesn't tell the story in the traditional linear sense, but rather tells us through flashbacks about the budding relationship between Tami and Richard, all the while witnessing their harrowing quest for survival.  The romance isn't at the heart of the film - in fact, it all seems rather surface level, with very little chemistry being emoted between the two actors - but it's the survival story that's the center of it all, and that's when the film truly shines.

Much like while I waited for the iceberg to hit in "Titanic," I eagerly waited for the actual hurricane to hit the small ship (the film opens with the aftermath of the hurricane, and then backtracks to the actual event), and when it hits, it hits with a tremendous force.  Visual effects supervisor Dadi Einarsson tosses us around as much as the actors, and seeing that mountainous wall of water on the big screen is as intimidating as anything you could see on screen.  The waves were crashing all around, the ship getting tossed about like a toy, and the actors went through the ringer.  On the action part of the film, "Adrift" doesn't disappoint.

On the visual aspect, the film also produces tremendous force.  Cinematographer Robert Richardson manages to show the true helplessness of Tami and Richard's ordeal, as we see several stunning visuals of the boat alone in a literal sea of nothingness, with no land, no planes, and no other source of human contact in sight.  It adds to the feeling of true depravity, of visceral loneliness, and utter hopelessness.  Yet mixed in are beautiful sunsets that exude the most beautiful colors (with a humorous back-and-forth between Tami and Richard over him not knowing who Bob Ross is - all before the hurricane of course), which contrasts to the dire sense of survival.

The acting, as mentioned before, heavily falls on Shailene Woodley's shoulders, and she once again dominates the big screen.  Seeing her ingenuity and resourcefulness in the midst of the unthinkable is admirable to say the least, and all the more powerful knowing this actually happened to a woman in real life.  She contained the sheer force of will to survive, while maintaining a youthful outlook as well (when it begins raining, she dances on the boat seemingly without a care in the world).  Sam Claflin's main thrust is given in the flashbacks, as he spends the rest of the film helpless and nearly silent, and the film is undoubtedly Shailene Woodley's alone, and she truly shines.

The Summary:
For those who enjoy a true life tale of survival through insurmountable odds, "Adrift" is a fascinating film with a strong lead, stunning visuals, and insane effects that will have you feeling seasick by the end of it.

The Score: A