The Whale (2013 TV Movie) User Reviews

Harrowing true story, tastefully recreated and fairly engrossing throughout.

[barnabyrudge · 7/10 · 23 December 2013]

The story of the Essex is one of those examples of fact being stranger than fiction. Commanded in 1819-1820 by the young and newly promoted Captain George Pollard Jr, the ship was notoriously attacked and sunk by a gigantic sperm whale in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, forcing the sailors to board the small whalers and survive upon the vast expanse of sea for several months. A tale of ill luck, personality clashes, man .vs. nature and survival by cannibalism, it inspired the first mate (and one of the few participants to emerge from the experience alive) to write a book entitled 'Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex', which in turn inspired a certain chap named Herman Melville to write his enduring classic Moby Dick.

In 1819, the whale-ship Essex leaves Nantucket under the command of newly promoted captain George Pollard Jr (Adam Rayner). The youngest member of the crew is 14 year old Tom Nickerson (Charles Furness), attempting to find his way in life by pursuing a career on the high seas. The first mate is Owen Chase (Jonas Armstrong), who has sailed with Pollard before in a different capacity, but finds his captain indecisive and ill-judged over many matters. The journey starts badly, with the ship failing to find whales; food and water being strictly rationed; and grumblings of mutiny making themselves heard among the crew. They head out into the central Pacific to improve their luck, and things seem to be working out when they immediately come across whales. However, a sperm whale rams the ship after its mate is killed by the sailors; the ship sinks and the survivors are forced to board their tiny whaleboats to stay alive. They drift upon the sea for many weeks, finding land in the shape of the uninhabitable Henderson Island. When it becomes apparent the island cannot support life, they have to once more put to sea to stay alive. Ultimately, they have to resort to cannibalism when their scarce food supplies run out altogether. Only a handful of the original survivors make it to safety after several months of desperate suffering and hardship.

As true stories go, this one is as remarkable as it is grim. The performances are pretty good, and the details of life at sea seem to be captured with a solid level of authenticity. The personality clashes among the crew – especially the stormy relationship between Captain Pollard and his First Mate, Owen Chase – are nicely delineated. Since the film is called The Whale, one would expect the whale itself to be more integral to the story… a better title may have been The Essex or The Whale-Ship. Yes, the whale is responsible for the sinking of the ship, and yes, it ominously follows the sailors throughout their ordeal, but overall the film focuses much more on the survival of the sailors, and the extremes to which they go to stay alive. The whale itself has little direct bearing upon the narrative. The latter part of the film, detailing the sailors' extraordinary adventures aboard their little whalers once their ship has gone down, is exceptionally well done – harrowing, terrifying and utterly convincing. The film doesn't really dwell too long on the moral complexities of turning to cannibalism to stay alive, nor does it explore the effect of this extreme course of action on the characters. It's presented more as a straightforward account, tastefully done in the parts where it could have been quite sensationalised and gruesome, and overall a very respectable little TV movie which is well worth a look.

A convincing near-documentary feel to a gripping story

[clewis2666 · 7/10 · 27 February 2016]

I am surprised by the negative tone of 2 of the 3 reviews currently available here. Perhaps "disappointed" would be a better term to use than "surprised", because I can understand that if one was wanting or expecting a high voltage adventure, albeit on a smaller budget, the sort of thing that Hollywood would certainly have produced (and, as we are told, is about to produce), the muted tone of this near- documentary would not be well received. Some time ago I put this film on my rental list with Lovefilm but when it arrived the other day I could not remember why or when I had selected it. As the film began I observed, possibly a little to my surprise, that it was a BBC production, but, even so, I didn't twig that it was made for TV. I can say right away that in my opinion it made an excellent TV offering. But the question is: does it make an excellent feature film offering? I was gripped by the film all the time, not in a Tom Cruise sort of way, but simply by the unfolding of the story and by the very well portrayed interchange between the members of the crew, who for the most part acted very well (it seems a shame to say this, but I thought the captain (spoiler!) was not a very successful portrayal, changing, as the script required him to do, from a strong-minded leader to a useless wreck, merely because, through no fault of his, his ship had been lost – and then, really, becoming a leader again after a few supportive words from his previously antagonistic first mate). The placing of the cabin boy, later in life Martin Sheen, at the heart of the film was very successful, and, to me, the atmosphere, as well as the nitty-gritty, of an early 19th century whaling ship seemed very well captured. (Spoiler – for anyone who doesn't know the story of Moby Dick!) It is fair to say that the sinking of the ship was not thrilling, just factual, as, for that matter, were other aspects of the film which could, by others, have been Hollywoodised, such as the cannibalism. The ominous behaviour of the surviving whale did not seem particularly convincing, probably because he wasn't feeling ominous, merely lounging around. Certainly there was no attempt to depart from the truth and give the creature a few chances to ram the small whaling boats. The film merely told the truth, as I imagine it to be, namely that apart from hunger and thirst and the consequent cannibalism, 2 of the 3 boats were rescued and the other, for whatever reason, was not seen again. Again, I emphasise that the cannibalism, which could have been made utterly gruesome and unforgettable, was portrayed factually, that is to say in a manner that will not satisfy the sensationalists. But, to revert to what I said much earlier, the film had, as I imagine it was intended to have, a documentary feel. Taking it all in all, I would give it, without hesitation, 7 points out of 10.

A very enjoyable nautical story.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 10 October 2020]

The year is 1820, the crew of the Essex, a Whaling ship set off, only to be sunk by a Sperm Whale.

This is a very enjoyable watch, you will no doubt have Moby Dick on your mind, this is a very different kettle of fish.

Excellent special effects, it looks terrific, I'm pretty sure a sizeable budget was required for this.

The acting is arguably the best aspect, the cast are great, the standout for me is Jonas Armstrong, he's excellent.

I bet you'll want to reach for the lip balm after watching this. One thing though, the men's lips got sore, but they must have had a Barbour in the crew as nobody's facial hair or head hair grew an inch.

Very enjoyable. 7/10.

A fairly by-the-numbers "Sunday night" event drama from the BBC

[bob the moo · 11 June 2014]

The Whale is the story of a ship that sinks after it is attacked by a whale – supposedly acting in revenge; it is the true story that inspired the writing of Moby Dick and it was a BBC production that went out around the Christmas period in 2013. I mention this last thing because it is important to know this going in because when it comes to historical dramas, the Christmas schedule is rather like one long Sunday night – mostly things are non-challenging and when they are dramas they tend to be not too subtle, and when they are costume pieces then they tend to wear that on their sleeves (so to speak).

With The Whale there is certainly the sense of a drama where we have a solid meat and potatoes historical epic but it knows it is this. As a result we get a product that is so focused on being what it says on the tin that it really doesn't do much else. It delivers the basic elements of the story in a practical sense but does so without too much flair. There are some visual devices (such as the blood on the water) but generally it is a surprisingly straight telling and I found myself unmoved by the plight and the events. Odd the film seems to take longer at the start than at the end – the life boat period goes by too quickly, with only a short amount of time in the boat. Likewise the whale of the title is limited in its time on screen.

It probably didn't help that a day or so before I watched this, I saw Life of Pi and Blackfish, so life boat sequences and the suffering of whales were both in my mind. Anyway, the cast are given chunky but obvious dialogue to deliver and most manage it just fine. Sheen is placed front and centre, stuck in some nice facial hair additions and left to simply be Martin Sheen, this proving this is a quality film, right? His narration is as dry as the sailor's lips though – telling his best moment is one where he is silent when they cut to him. The rest of the cast are solid despite having mostly nautical clichés to deliver – not helped by the scenario being familiar to the viewer. Armstrong, Rayner, Furness, Gyasi, Boyega and others are all decent enough. The film looks good and the effects are technically good even if they do look like a really well render shape, rather than a real whale. Sets, costumes and the like are all fine – but it never doesn't feel like a BBC Sunday night.

It is worth a look if you are in an undemanding mood, but it is workmanlike fare without too much flair or substance outside of all the material you already know will be in there.

Amazing Cinematography

[lnslicer-83741 · 10/10 · 14 November 2019]

Yes, you know some pf the men will survive but that doesn't detract from the remarkable visuals in this film. It shows the ugliness of the whaling industry at that time. It makes no apology for it. It's not a pretty film but the performances are outstanding. I am a fan of Martin Sheen and he does quite well as the narrator. My only complaint is that he spoke with an American accent as the old man and the boy spoke with an English accent. Not.enough to detract from the movie, but I'm a continuity person. I catch things like that.

Predictable, family-friendly BBC fare

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 2 March 2015]

THE WHALE is a mid-range budget BBC film detailing the sinking of the Essex by a vengeful whale, a story that was memorably made into a novel, MOBY DICK, by Herman Melville. A new big-budget Hollywood production starring Chris Hemsworth is being made of the story, and I hope they do a better job than they did here. It's not that THE WHALE is bad per se, it's just very ordinary, very indifferent, and very predictable.

The problem is that this is strictly family fare and it can't hold a match to bigger, better, shipwreck productions like LIFE OF PI. The storyline is tells is rather predictable and the scriptwriter fails to bring much in the way or gravitas or drama to the situation. Too much of the arguing between the captain and the first mate is simply repetitive.

In a bid to draw in viewers, the BBC have assembled a mildly impressive cast, headlined by Martin Sheen who narrates the story in his dotage. Unfortunately the leads Charles Furness and Adam Rayner simply don't have the acting chops for this material, while Robin Hood himself, Jonas Armstrong, is one-dimensional. John Boyega and Paul Kaye are much better, but hidden way down the cast list. Add in some very lackluste CGI whale effects and you have a middling TV movie at best.