The harrowing film “The Impossible,” based on a book about
the experiences of a Spanish family vacationing in Thailand, is portrayed from
a Western perspective. And while this point of view does not diminish its
dramatic impact, it does leave you with the feeling that there are equally
moving stories about local lives. The scale of the catastrophe and the massive
illusion needed by director Juan Antonio Bayona to portray the tsunami, which
claimed more than 200,000 lives, gives the movie a realistic intensity and
makes you glad that you were nowhere near it. It’s also a portrait of compassion as the central characters
take physical and emotional journeys in their efforts to reunite. However
visually stunning the movie is, it also doesn’t mind being emotionally
manipulative as various family members miss one another by inches.
Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor are Maria and Henry, Brits
living in Japan with their kids and spending Christmas in tropical Thailand at
a beach resort. Then, on Dec. 26, the resort is inundated by huge roiling tidal
waves as giant trees topple and cars and trucks bob about like toys. Maria and Henry
are separated, she with their oldest boy, Lucas (a remarkable Tom Holland) and
Henry with the younger brothers (Samuel Joslin and Oaklee Pendergast). The
first half of the movie follows Maria and Lucas as Maria at first doesn’t
realize the extent of her injuries, but you see the fear on Lucas’s face. The
second half tracks Henry and the younger boys as they search for the rest of
their family. At the heart of Sergio Sanchez’s script is the power of family –
the tenacity of a mother and father to first survive and then search for one
another. Watts is superb, managing both the physical and emotional demands of
her role. Nonetheless, when “The Impossible” is over, you’ll be grateful to
just walk away. 10/31/12
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