Phenonemal but Forced....

Rating: 6/10 (30 January 2013)

First and foremost, I would like to state beforehand that I cannot even begin to imagine the pain, devastation, and anguish that the Belón family must have endured during this most heinous event. This is truly an incredible story of survival, in which I highly recommend seeing; however, I do have some serious reservations as to the 'deliberate' emotion-seeking story telling techniques that director Juan Antonio Bayona and writer Sergio G. Sanchez decided to use in order to tell this tale of woe.
"The Impossible" is the 'based on true events' story of the Bennett (Belón) family. Maria Bennett (Naomi Watts) and her husband Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons Lucas (Tom Holland), Tomas and Simon were on holiday over Christmas at a tropical paradise resort in Khao Lak, Thailand. An error with their third floor reservations got them upgraded to an oceanfront bungalow; however, it is curious to surmise if this was a spot of good luck or just one of life's awful twists of fate. While relaxing poolside on December 26, 2004, the Bennett (Belón) family was present during one of Thailand's most devastating natural disasters, the 2004 tsunami , which ravaged and leveled most of coastal area in which they were residing. The painstaking details that director Bayona goes through to recreate this catastrophic ordeal is absolutely mind-bogglingly. Again, I am more than confident that this reinterpretation of this ungodly event pales in comparison to its actual occurrence. However, director Bayona does portray the calamitous, perilous, inauspicious aftermath of the devastated Thailand coastal area quite effectively, and the days that followed even more so...
However, here is where I am torn between being the completely immersed audience member awestruck by the events which are being presented to me versus super sensitive critic who is highly skeptical to this Hollywood retelling of this most hideous tribulation. Granted, this had to be an arduous experience; but I definitely feel that director Bayona pulled out all the stops in order to 'milk' the most impassioned audience reactions. Here are some examples of what I mean: (1) possibly one of the most touching moments in this film, is when 12 year old Lucas Bennett is able to reunite a father and son in the Thailand Hospital in which his mother has been taken to. However, this brief moment of joy in this most tumultuous place is ripped from the audience's beguilement as Lucas runs to tell his mother what he has done, only to find an empty bed and the thought that she had passed away. (2) The film's climatic scene in which the Bennett family: father, brothers, mother are finally reunited plays out like an Abbot and Costello routine with all the near misses of each other, retracing the exact same footsteps as the previous lost individual, the just oh so nearly seeing each other only to have the other turn at the exact moment as the individual walks out of sight. The intensity is supposed to build until the entire family finally find each other; however, the scene is so 'intentionally' drawn out and overly dramatic that it actually (almost) becomes comical. (3) However, my most disturbing sequence of the entire film has to be the closing sequence (which was possibly the most true scene of the film). Obviously the Bennet (Belón) family was a very affluent, well to do family. So as the family has been finally been reunified, and the mother (Maria) has successfully undergone surgery, the family is whisked away on a private jet to Singapore. Here my issue whether it's true or not (which I tend to believe actually did happen as shown on screen), the image of this family departing Thailand alone on an empty airplane in which they are the sole occupants, when hundreds maybe thousands of others were sitting there at that same airport in distress was just disheartening. Not an image that I would have decided to end this movie on.
I know this review sounds harsh, and I apologize; however, I do still recommend seeing this film. It is truly a testament to the human survival proclivity, and I cannot begin to even phantom the despair and anguish endured by this family. I would like to add that I am sure that I would not have enjoyed reliving this experience by deciding to bring this abominable life incident to the big screen as Mrs. María Belón Alvárez elected to do either... but I digress. Rent this movie, enjoy this movie, recant my observations... but I am positive that my review comments will resonate in your mind as you watch it!!!! This film absolutely has a 'forced' feeling undertone to it.
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