The Impossible

Plot: During the Indian Ocean Tsunami in Thailand, a family is caught up in the wave, separated and beaten up. The movie is about their impossible survival. After set up scenes of family life, there is the disaster, splashing in the water, finding the way to help on dry land, and then finding each other.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: An emotional ride though a real life disaster with good actors and a skillful director. A good ride that I enjoyed. 

Highlights are the disaster footage. All the scenes of water splashing over the hotel and landscape are great. The scenes of Maria (Naomi Watts) getting battered by debris on the way to the air surface are exceptional. Most of Watts and McGregor's scenes are great. All three child actors are good -- not wooden at all. 

It was not as melodramatic as I feared that it would be. There are some tear-jerker scenes -- no mistake about that.  The story has is more tangible, realistic, and less manipulative -- or at least less manipulative than it could have been -- it is still a major movie after all. Being a true story helps credibility too.

Besides being about the disaster, it is also about taking care of each other, and taking care of other people. The movie evokes charitable human feelings. 

Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor

Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona

Rating:  3.5 stars: not as fun-to-watch as my other top picks, but it is a disaster movie. It moves up due to the acting and the rapid pace. About as good as Hunger Games and Avengers. 

 

More: The Impossible is a dumb title because nearly every action movie plot could be called The Impossible. 

Even More No one in Thailand seems to have a sponge to clean the dried blood off our heroes. Seems they could have managed to clean up a little by end of the movie. 

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