Tuesday's Overlooked Movies: In the Heart of the Sea

I knew that Herman Melville's novel MOBY DICK was based on actual incidents, but I didn't really know the story behind it. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA spins that yarn, the tale of the real-life whaling ship Essex and its encounter with, you guessed it, a great white whale. How accurate it is, I don't know, but I thought it was a well-done, old-fashioned adventure movie, not surprising since it was directed by Ron Howard, who is very much an old-fashioned director whose work has often reminded me of the movies made by Howard Hawks. Chris Hemsworth stars in this one as the first mate of the Essex, and I tend to like him, too. IN THE HEART OF THE SEA bombed at the box office and got mostly bad reviews, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.