Brilliant depiction of a huge catastrophe--but the plot is linear and limited

Rating: 7/10 (13 November 2013)

The Impossible (2012)
I'll start by explaining the big basics: this is extremely well done, but it only does what the facts tell it to do.
So, it's amazing. It shows the effects of the epic 2004 tsunami on a group of British tourists. It shows the unexpected before scenes (life is gorgeous, nothing will intrude) and it shows the flooding huge wash of ocean itself (the rush of destruction). In a way, that's enough for a great movie right there. Maybe the before stuff is generic—rich Europeans enjoying Thailand for its beauty and beachfront motel. Great.
But the incoming waters and their pure terror are presented beautifully, incredibly. It's not just the spectacular crash of the wave on the upscale motel and palm trees, but the many minutes (it seems like hours) afterwards as our heroes get pushed inland with all the debris. It's quite astonishing, and for this alone I think the movie is worth the time—at the very least.
There is another half of the movie that is about the core family trying to find all its members, one of whom is trying to simply stay alive in the makeshift hospital amidst all the other victims. This part of the movie is also well done, and very believable. Someone has taken the time to get the facts more or less correct. If you watch this you will be there. You'll understand at least what a rich foreigner might have experienced in the disaster.
However (and you knew a however was coming, I hope): that's all there is. Yes, you might think it's enough. All the heartbreak and celebration all the struggle for meaning and life and family, keeping sanity and the basics of food and heartbeat, all of this seems like it's self-sufficient. But really, as a movie, as a development and investigation into character and meaning, I'm not seeing what it boils down to.
For lovers of the movie this will seem petty, I'm sure. But really, as a piece, as a work of "art" or "moviemaking" or whatever we expect from a film, it does often seem like a simple portrayal of a disaster. It's not that we don't empathize—I was in the grip of the problem for the main two actors. It's more that it's really not quite enough for a cinematic project. It's almost like a docudrama, a re-enactment. Well done, but that's as far as it goes.
To put it another way, if you like documentaries, and you have some feeling for the colossal tragedy of the earthquake and tsunami, you might like this purely and simply. If you want a movie-like development and some kind of moral and narrative complexity, this isn't quite up to snuff.
Which leaves it in your hands. See it, for sure. But in perspective.