The Impossible, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, follows Maria (Naomi Watts), Henry (Ewan McGregor) and their three sons as they arrive at a Thailand resort in time for Christmas 2004, just as the disastrous tsunami hit. This isn’t a movie about the larger effects of the tsunami, but a very insular tale about beating the odds. As interesting as this one family’s story is (the movie is based on true events), once on a big screen, the plot doesn’t carry for the duration of its feature length. But the special effects—the giant wave surging, hitting land and so on—are pretty convincing. Watts and McGregor, both strong actors, mostly just yell after their three sons, the former wearing enough make-up to look beaten-up and earn her an Oscar nomination, whether or not it’s actually merited.
This article appears in Jan 10-16, 2013.
Wow. You’re a god damn fool. For starters, they don’t just throw Oscar nominations at folks to fill holes in the bill. Take that however you please.
This movie is called “The Impossible”. Its not called “Movie about the 2004 Tsunami”. Its title implies that its about one specific story within the grand event. I don’t know if you went into this expecting to see an epic disaster movie and were disappointed and thus, left bitter, but if you approached it with anything resembling brain cells, you would realize that it is an accurate portrayal of actual events. So sorry that Hollywood didn’t have their hands in the cookie jar on this to add stupid plot points to make the story “better” or endless amounts of terror shots a la “2012”.