Coast Guard rescue against what appear to be improbable odds

Rating: 8/10 (29 January 2016)

The first half of this film was a little slow and I wondered if I had inadvertently walked into the wrong theater. Character development and the formation of relationships was obvious during the first 20 minutes; however, in my opinion, less time should have been devoted to the romancing and more to the backgrounds of the three other coast guard crewmen and the main characters who were rescued. In the second portion of this film Director Craig Gillespie demonstrates a talented affinity for placing the audience right in the vessel as it gets slammed by monster waves. Indeed, I was a bit dizzy by the time the end approached! In that sense, the feeling in the pit of one's stomach rivals and at time exceeds the sensations of reality experienced in such films as "In The Heart of The Sea" and "Perfect Storm." The contrast of the rescue scenes with the early part of the movie is sort of like two different movies that were spliced together, with the first part being rated a 6 and the second part a 10 for an overall score of 8. In any event, most people will be pleased that they went to see this movie and even be encouraged to face and to conquer the adverse ocean of monster waves in their own personal lives.