Every.single.year there’s a film that explores exactly what it’s like to be stuck in sea jail. Dudes, we get it; the ocean is big, really, really big … and sometimes there’s a freaking tiger in your boat. FWIW, I think next year’s version of this tale should err on the fictional side – I’m thinkin’ some sort of ocean-based Death Race 2000 … a full contact, no holds barred America’s Cup; the “winner” gets the survival-at-sea treatment. I digress. The 2018 version of this film is based on a true story and one of those that makes me wonder why people sail anywhere, ever.
We already know the Gilligan routine is gonna happen. If you couldn’t guess by title or by trailer, the movie let us know in the first two minutes that Tami (Shailene Woodley) wakes up alone in a wrecked yacht taking on water, water, water surrounded on all sides by over a thousand miles of ocean. Say, wasn’t somebody else supposed to be there, too? Oh yeah, her fiancé, Richard (Sam Claflin). Where’d he go? Uh oh, looks like we’re in for spell o’ backstory. A yup. My trick knee tells me there’s a half-assed romance about to swell. Here it comes.
Tami landed in Tahiti and immediately played “Who’s on first?” with the authorities. Now I’m no big fan of The Immigration Game from the uniform point of view, but I’m thinking there are better answers than “I dunno” to questions like: “How long you are going to be here?” “How are you going to live?” and “Do you plan to murder anyone?” Apparently, this all got a pass and Tami soon lands a boat cleaning job not unlike Anna Faris in Overboard. And then Richard sails in, ‘nuff said.
Actually, I wish they had said more. The Richard and Tami romance is decidedly tame. Adrift wanted us to know that the story about two people sailing the Pacific in what became a large bathtub was much more about the stormy aftermath than the stormy romance. I got the distinct impression of these guys falling in love because they’re pretty and no other reason. Given that Clafin and Woodley have just about two dozen more film romances between them to come, each would do
well to remember that we care more what happens to you when we care about you. The film circumvented personality adoration with the Florence Nightingale effect: After the wreck, Tami spots Richard a quarter-mile away clinging to life and a rowboat; the man has broken ribs and broken legs. Looks like he’s the catch of the day.
What is this, Clafin? Typecasting? How long do you think you can get away with playing an invalid?
You get the idea – relatively inexperienced yachtswoman Tami has bring herself, a sick paraplegic, and a destroyed boat safely to some port zillions of miles from where they are now. For most folks, that’s a full day. The story is compelling, but is discounted by the fact that: 1) We’ve seen this already: All Is Lost, In the Heart of the Sea, Unbroken, Kon-Tiki, Moana, etc. Take your pick. 2) The details are on the unspecified side; if you’re going to keep showing me this film, I’d really like to know how to use a sextant by now, dig? 3) The plot was significantly more gripping than the players. There needs to be better balance. Had Adrift been made a decade ago, it would have stood a much better chance at winning hearts and minds. Instead, I’m just hoping Sam Clafin will get to use his limbs in his next movie.
A romance the movie forgot
Is challenged when their boat gets upsot
Mayhap regretting
Not pushing the wedding
They got a lot o’ yacht for naught
Rated PG-13, 96 Minutes
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Writer: Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell, David Branson Smith
Genre: This was no boating accident! Oh, wait. Yes, it was.
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Drifters?
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Thalassophobes
