In my opinion, Wednesday night is a lousy night for television. Code Black is okay but they had their season finale the end of February. So last night I decided to watch a new DVD I purchased the day before.
Ron Howard has great instincts when it comes to choosing material for the movies he directs. He's willing to take chances on some of the more challenging topics, which is where In the Heart of the Sea falls. Beyond Moby Dick, I imagine there aren't a lot of people interested in whaling but this was based on the true story of the whaling ship Essex, out of Nantucket Island, MA and what became of her and her crew on their last voyage. It also gave Melville the idea for Moby Dick.
In the Heart of the Sea didn't fare well at the box office. Financially, it bombed. Maybe it was the timing of the release. Sometimes you have to take what you can get and hope for the best. This movie had a November release which wasn't exactly in its favor. By this time of year, movie-goers are looking for feel good movies that promote the holiday season. This one was definitely not seasonal fare.
Not only that, the reviews weren't particularly kind. Then again, critics rarely are. This is where I part company with them. I may read the reviews but I tend to take them with a huge grain of salt. Critiques are often biased one way or the other, good or bad. They can make or break a movie before it's even been released. How can you claim 1) a movie is the best of the year when the year has barely started and you can't compare it to others; or 2) they give a movie low ratings, pick it to pieces because they don't like the genre. (There was one critic, quite a few years ago who hated science fiction movies but was always reviewing them.) If a critic can't keep an open mind, then they shouldn't be in the business of reviews.
I can give one other example of a movie that bombed. Around 1985 LadyHawke was released in theaters. It starred Matthew Broderick, Rutger Hauer, and Michelle Pfeiffer and was a medieval tale with a paranormal catalyst. Critics hated it. I thought it was, and still is, the best romantic story I have ever seen. A lot of other people agreed. So much for critics' opinions.
The same can be said for us as writers. We put in a lot of time, effort and hard work to create a product we hope people will like and enjoy. We need reviews to help us promote and we hope those reviews are, for the most part, good. More than that, we can only hope the critics keep an open mind when writing reviews.
This weekend I plan to watch another DVD. Here's an unsolicited review... If you're looking for a story with non-stop action from start to finish, San Andreas should fill the bill.
