The Impossible

It reminded me of one of those fantastic Irwin Allen disaster movies from the 70’s. Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts are great as the disaster victims, struggling with their own injuries, surrounded by death, and confounded by the chaos and confusion during the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, one of the deadliest natural disasters in history. Naomi Watts especially shines in an unselfconscious role as she tries to lead her son to safety and survive her own severely icky injuries. Although it’s based on an amazing true story, there are brief moments of this that seem a little sappy. The music swells too much, some people cry a little too hard, and there’s a conspicuous lack of subtlety during certain key moments. Nevertheless, it’s emotional when it needs to be and casts some light on a worthy topic.