Film review of the movie about a young diver who is accidentally swallowed by a Sperm Whale with only an hour of air in his tank.
Synopsis
Jake (Austin Abrahms) returns home from university after the death of his father (Josh Brolin), with who he was distant from despite both sharing a passion for deap sea diving. During a dive to help reconnect with his dad, Jake is suddenly swallowed by a huge Sperm Whale that is hunting a Giant Squid. Thus begins his battle to stay alive and escape.
“From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.” (Jonah 2:2)
There are ridiculous stories, and then there are biblically ridiculous stories, as Austin Abrahms becomes a latter-day, wetsuit-wearing Jonah for a taut movie that must have cetologists across the planet howling and cringing in their multiplex seats.
As preposterous as the day is long, the final piece is commendably exciting. Grim, yes, but the participants throw themselves into the daft proceedings with enough aplomb to make you (just about) believe the story.
Leaving aside the crushing pressures, there are also the gases/acids inside a Sperm Whale’s body that would kill a misplaced diver within minutes, even though the statistically possible scenario of a diver being gobbled up relatively close to the surface makes the whole shebang massively unlikely.
Still, director Duffield deserves a few pats on the back for ignoring all that and ploughing ahead to produce a suspense movie that is gripping. I was squirming in my seat, almost throughout. This is an intestinal shocker that I think David Cronenberg would enjoy.
Not the easiest of leading roles to essay, then, but Abrahms has enough pluck to wade through whale blubber and innards. There are moments of hilarity (his voice squeaks as he ‘communes’ with the whale), but he makes us root for him.
Brolin’s gruff and tough father is a hard taskmaster (at one point, you wonder why mother Shue didn’t step in to calm him down – he’s loud enough to be heard across the whole ocean), but his advice – filtered through a fog of dwindling oxygen, pain, claustrophobia and cetacean intestinal gases – creates the requisite lightbulb moments to save our poor hero. Irrespective of their scientific invalidity, these insights propel the narrative of a short film (much less than two hours).
At least Brolin has a script working for him. It always raises the spirits to see Elisabeth Shue’s name appear on the opening credits… which lower almost as quickly because you know she’ll be given next-to-nothing to do. This is the fate of her career post-Leaving Las Vegas (for which she received a Best Actress Oscar nomination) – throwaway roles (here as the long-suffering, saintly mother) that she glides through with ease, the breath of nurturing air her son so badly needs.
Director: Brian Duffield. 1h 45m/105 min. 20th Century Studios/3 Arts Entertainment/Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit (CPTC)/Imagine Entertainment/New Zealand Film Commission. (15).
Producers: Brian Duffield, Brian Grazer, Allan Mandelbaum, Jeb Brody. Writers: Brian Duffield, Daniel Kraus. Camera: Aaron Morton. Music: Joseph Trapanese. Sets: Ramsey Avery.
Austin Abrahms, Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz, Jane Levy, Emily Rudd, Sam Franich, Ronin Pribble, Grayson Paul Solomine.
