Movie Review: Adrift

For those of us who think that being a movie actor is some easy job where you can work a few months, make far more than 99% of most people and then take the rest of the year off - part of this is true. When this is not true is when you hear about the hardships of making the new movie "Adrift", which is the true story of a young couple who decide to take a long trip on a yacht and then get hit with one of the worst hurricanes ever recorded - Hurricane Raymond in September 1983.

The problem with this movie is that many of the scenes of survival and being adrift in the ocean have been seen way too many times. To get around this, the story is told in well positioned flashbacks and some movie trickery that caught me by surprise. The special effects of the huge ocean waves hitting the boat were extremely well done, but after a while, despite all the well done flashbacks, what remains can be pretty boring over a 2 hour period.

Shailene Woodley is the star and producer of Adrift which is about a true story of a young couple and her characters 41 days at sea trying to survive. Considering the incredible ordeal facing Woodley in making this movie, I am surprised she took on the part considering the months of nausea for not only her, but everyone in the movie crew. There is nothing easy about filming anything in water and because of realism this movie was shot in the middle of the ocean.

Despite the good parts of this movie, I can give it only a marginal recommendation.