Adrift

"Adrift" (PG-13, 2:00) is an action-adventure drama-romance produced and directed by Baltasar Kormákur ("Everest", "2 Guns", "The Deep") and written by David Branson Smith ("Ingrid Goes West") and Aaron and Jordan Kandell ("Moana"), based on the book by Tami Ashcraft. Unlike most movies dramatizing something that actually happened, this one doesn't begin with the usual qualifiers of "Based on a true story" or "Inspired by a true story". This one tells us simply, "This is a true story."

Tami Oldham (Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Shailene Woodley) is a single 24-year-old adventurer, originally from San Diego, who works her way from place to place on a worldwide voyage of self-discovery. As the film opens, she gets off a boat in Tahiti and responds to the custom agent's questions by admitting she doesn't have an occupation or any idea how long she'll be staying in the country. In spite of her apparent aimlessness, she gets her passport stamped and starts working at the docks doing maintenance on various pleasure craft. That's where she meets the handsome and charming Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin), who is in the process of sailing around the world on a journey similar to Tami's.

Tami and Richard are well on their way to falling in love when a wealthy older couple ask Richard to sail their yacht to San Diego, in exchange for $10,000 and a First Class airline ticket back to Tahiti. Make that two First Class tickets. Tami says she's not ready to go home yet, but she doesn't want to be separated from her new love, so she comes along for the ride... and, as a novice sailor herself, to help out where she can. Unfortunately for the young lovers, they get caught up in a monster storm at sea that damages the boat - and each of them - severely. The best solution seems to be allowing the prevailing currents to carry the boat east, try to navigate towards Hawaii - and try to survive long enough to get there.

"Adrift" is this film's title, but the story is anything but. Appearing in flashbacks, the story of Tami and Richard is told parallel with the story of the journey to Hawaii. It's an especially effective plot device in this intelligent screenplay. The two leads are each first class actors who play their roles expertly and with undeniable chemistry. This film compares well with Robert Redford's "All is Lost" and Tom Hanks' "Cast Away", with the added allure of the romance and the strong foundation of being a true story. "A-"

My wife and I watched this at home on BluRay from our local library. The picture and sound are great and the surround sound makes you feel like you are in the middle of a storm.

The title sort of gives the plot away, the core story is survival during a long period in a disabled sailboat. There really isn't a lot fancy going on here, moviewise, but it is a well-made movie and knowing it really happened adds to the value of watching it.

Shailene Woodley as Tami Oldham and Sam Claflin as Richard Sharp were near the correct ages of 24 and 33 when the depicted story occurred. He was sailing all over the world when they met in Tahiti, she was just working herself along, traveling to random places, getting away from her upbringing in San Diego.

An older couple he knew needed to fly back to the states so they asked Richard to sail their larger boat to San Diego for them, he would get $10,000 for his efforts and a first class airfare back to his boat. He said OK but make that two first class tickets.

The two of them headed out, sailing happily together, until the weather turned bad. It was 1983, the systems for early warning of hurricanes was not as good as it is today.

Good movie of an interesting story of love and survival. The editing technique has the movie cutting often to several months earlier and then to the film's present.

Based on a true story. A bittersweet tale of high seas adventure, based on a true story. Worked well with flash backs to the back story. Well paced with excellent performances. Outstanding performance from Shailey Woodley. I can't imagine being lost at sea for that long, a total nightmare.

Great movie that never lost my attention. Between the surprising twists (that I won't mention because they would be spoilers) and the intense action all through the movie I was glued to the screen. Shailene Woodley's great acting carried the movie like, in a smaller way, how Tom Hanks captivated in Cast Away. Definitely worth seeing. I would suggest see it without knowing much about the story.

Plot - good. Acting game - good. Mixing between past and present - also a good idea. So there're pretty good things about the movie. But the main problem is that the film is somehow slow (even though it's only 90 minutes) and the last half an hour was boring. I wouldn't watch it again but I don't regret spending time on it so I would say the IMDb raiting is definitely too low.