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    The Light Between Oceans

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    “The Light Between Oceans” isn’t a bad film, but I was disappointed by it. I saw the cast, caught a glimpse of the plot in the trailers and thought “Wow! ” With the incredibly talented Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Rachel Weisz starring, I expected a much more emotional experience in the cinema.

    Beginning in 1918, the film follows a lighthouse keeper named Tom Sherbourne (Fassbender) who lives alone his new wife Isabel (Vikander) on an island. After two miscarriages, Isabel spots and rescues a baby girl from a drifting rowboat. Breaking every rule in the book, the couple decides to informally adopt the girl and name her Lucy. As the years pass, the secret becomes too much to bear when Tom discovers the girl’s real mother (Rachel Weisz)

    This film is based on a best-selling drama, and I was able to tell. Film is a great medium for telling stories, but not all tales are meant for the silver screen. Even at 132 minutes, I felt that the plot was somewhat rushed. There’s a lot going on here. First, you have Tom living on his own while tending the lighthouse, then the initial courting of Tom and Isabel, their life together on the island, the miscarriage stuff and then you get to the point where they discover the abandoned child and decide to adopt her. The drama doesn’t really start until they’ve firmly bonded with the one they name Lucy and Tom discovers that her real mother is still alive. In a novel, I can see this working. As an active participant in the story (you have to pick up the book and read through it), you become emotionally involved in this miracle that comes under threat, you become intimately attached to these people because you can hear their thoughts. In this film, I never truly became immersed in these people’s lives. My theory? The film stays too close to its source material. I would’ve skipped the courtship and had the film begin with the couple already in love, living on the island. This would’ve given us more time to spend with the happy family before the emotional battering ram comes to knock it all down.

    When I say the film is a letdown, it’s because much of it is quite strong. I always like these period piece romances. Back then, they took their time. There was no sleeping together on the first date. You had to be classy and impress a lady by taking her to a picnic, when apart from each other. You had to write letters expressing your longing. Courtship I tell ya, it’s romantic. I said I’d cut the first act of the film where the romance develops, but I still enjoyed it. There’s a lot to like here. Fassbender and Vikander are good at expressing both joy and sorrow (though their chemistry is somewhat lacking) and when they’re together with their daughter, you feel the love emanating from the screen. As a period piece, it’s convincing. Thanks to the cinematography, it's a beautiful film. There’s appeal to this grand drama.

    Ultimately, I think the film simply tries to fill you with sorrow. Aside from the beginning where it is sweet to see Tom and Isabel courting and the brief moments where they have a family on the island, the picture is a relentless downer. Every character is tormented in one way or another. You forget that these people could have ever been happy. I seriously doubted that even if they found a way to bring Lucy, Tom, Isabel and Lucy’s real mother together, they would smile very much. This drama needed more upbeat scenes to give you that up and down to give the tragedies weight instead of the one-note results we have here.

    If you’re interested in “The Light Between Oceans” I recommend it, but not highly. There are elements that leave to be desired and this is the first picture I can recall since “The Cavern” where I urge you to leave the theater as soon as the story concludes to avoid the overly cheesy end credits that desperately tug at your heartstrings. Nevertheless, there’s far too much talent present for me to call it a bad film. “The Light Between Oceans” tries very, very hard to make you cry and if that’s what you want, sure. Myself, I was immune to its attempts at extracting tears. (Theatrical version on the big screen, September 8, 2016)

    5
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    adamwatchesmovies@  10.9.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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