A true story that begins with a lie

Rating: 3/10 (4 January 2013)

In "The Impossible," we are presented with a nice, blonde, sun-kissed English family (the Bennetts) when it fact the real family that the film is based on is a dark-haired, Spanish family, (the Belons.) This is even more mind-boggling when you realize that the director, Juan Antonio Bayona is a Spaniard. So much for verisimilitude.
The movie opens with the happy English family arriving at a plush Thai seaside resort and settling in for fun and games on a pristine beach with gin clear waters and later lounging at pool side. But wait! There's a distant rumble growing louder but only Maria (Naomi Watts) seems to notice it. Then with a crash, the wall of water arrives and all hell breaks loose. By some miracle the Bennett family including the three sons survives the tsunami after being tossed about amid the debris with only Maria suffering a serious leg injury. After the water recedes, we see the extent of the destruction, (real footage of the devastation?). But the only bodies or injured people that we see are fellow European tourists. Not one recognizable Thai local. And so the movie goes featuring only white tourists and their various travails. The Bennett family after wandering about and split up for a couple of days finally locate each other. After Maria has a life saving operation on her leg, the Bennets fly off in a chartered jet leaving the mess and the thousands of local dead behind them. Once again, white privilege counts for everything and the locals are left to fend for themselves.