Who cares about some western family who gets reunited?

Rating: 5/10 (26 January 2013)

So this movie was well made, meaning it had decent production value: good visuals, good effects. It offered to get you a better sense of this incredible tragedy. But, it provided little else.
1. There was hardly any story at all: some family gets separated and rejoined. Big friggin' deal - this happened to thousands upon thousands, and many more thousands lost loved ones permanently. We all read about how tragic this event was - why show us a completely unremarkable side of it? Maybe if they hadn't said "true story" as if it's so incredible you wouldn't think it happened unless they remind you that it did. But it's so banal!! Especially compared to the actual tragedies that did unfold all around these people who had their little holiday ruined.
2. The story centered on one Western family who had the privilege of jetting off out of hell once their trusty insurance agent found them. What about the rest of the people impacted? Are we really saying that the most interesting thing about the Tsunami was a bunch of rescued vacationers? You can tell that story, sure, but how can you leave out everything that changed for all the local people or the people who actually lost loved ones? This film treats the local people like scenery - they are shown positively, that's nice, but flat. The only reason it's not insulting is that this very thin film also treats the main characters like cardboard.