The Light Between Oceans Review

(Poster courtesy Wikipedia)

Sometimes, movies simply have an appeal because of the talent involved. Even if the premise may not be that intriguing, an actor, writer, talent, or all of them combined for that matter, can pull an audience in. After all, it's a fair claim to say that people respond to that which is familiar. Such is the case with both the films themselves and the respective talents behind them.

Anyway, the point is that my interest in The Light Between Oceans was fostered by those who helped bring it to fruition. Writer-director Derek Cianfrance (known for Blue Valentine and The Place Beyond the Pines) was the creative mastermind behind this film, for one thing.

But what really sold me was its leading man Michael Fassbender. It also helped that he is supported by co-star Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz, who are both Oscar-winning actresses.

The plot is what ultimately matters most in any film, though, regardless of the talent involved. This specific tale focuses on the life of a married couple known as Tom (Michael Fassbender) and Isabel Sherbourne (Alicia Vikander) during the early 20th century. The two live a solitary, peaceful life together on an island off the western coast of Australia, for which Tom serves as a lighthouse keeper.

One fateful day, though, they are shocked to discover a baby wash up on shore in a rowboat. They take the baby as their own, but in the time that follows thereafter, they soon realize that they must face the consequences for their actions one way or another.

In this case, The Light Between Oceans serves as an excellent case of the argument between material and execution of said material. After all, the implications of the plot are worthwhile concepts. Moral dilemmas and family drama are certainly grounds for engaging drama, so this film had some potential to be a powerful story.

While there are shreds of compelling drama here, though, this film does suffer from a hokey assortment of romance drama cliches. Therefore, the delivery of the narrative felt much more contrived than it needed to be.

However, such is the case more frequently in the second and third acts of the film. The Light Between Oceans rides on the success of a strong opening which sweetly portrays the reality of a good marriage--intimacy, heartfelt service, continuing romance, but of course sorrow as well.

Things happen in the first 45 minutes which are genuinely heartbreaking; these scenes are heightened by remarkable performances from the two leads (Vikander in particular).

But as I mentioned, a string of cliches, uneven pacing, and predictability soon bring down the impact of the story. The most repetitive and cheap attempts this film makes to develop its dramatic situations is the “letter voiceover.” If you are unfamiliar with this plot device, it is a trend in many films to reveal story details to characters and/or the audience as a character reads a letter; at the same time, we hear a voiceover of the one who writes the letter in question.

(Poster courtesy Rotten Tomatoes)

Perhaps one attempt to use this plot device could be effective, but the script calls for this multiple times during the film’s runtime. This certainly became tired and cheesy after a while, and to make matters worse, the film often has plot elements that seem too conveniently written for the story to work.

The sad thing is that despite Cianfrance’s best efforts to liven up the material, all of these elements mesh together so much that the story is too predictable to make an impact. I admit that it can be an effective move to keep the audience guessing, but suddenly things get problematic when they can predict every character decision.

What ultimately saves the film from its problematic narrative are the actors which deliver the material. It already helped that Fassbender and Vikander have strong chemistry together (I completely understand why the two are now currently in a relationship), but they both committed profoundly to portray individuals troubled by the past, present, and that which is to come.

Fassbender did well to show that his character was tormented by his experiences in World War I, which makes it all the more effective when he must pass through moral conundrums. This great actor simply knows how to handle despondency, while simultaneously presenting a strong, charismatic presence on the silver screen.

But of particular note is Alicia Vikander, for the emotional depth she brings to her character is very effective. I will not go into spoilers, but one scene in particular called for her to go to places that nearly broke my heart. Long story short, her performance is the rare one which encourages me to be a better person, considering all that transpires in the film.

Rachel Weisz also gives a solid performance as a character strongly connected to the two leads, but I won’t go much further than that for the sake of avoiding spoilers.

One final thing to note is that The Light Between Oceans is a technical wonder. The editing could have been more finely-tuned at times, but I would not be surprised if cinematographer Adam Arkapaw receives awards attention for this project.

Images caught of the scenery, ocean, set design and many other things are all pristinely-captured. Arkapaw and Cianfrance also took advantage of different lighting techniques to properly affect the mood, showing that they intended to bolster the narrative through filmmaking techniques.

(Poster courtesy Rotten Tomatoes)

Such is the goal of every honest filmmaker, but the story really did not live up to the standards set by the acting and production values. Not that it is without value, I just feel that much could have been done to spruce up the narrative.

Even so, The Light Between Oceans is at least worth a look because of the strong performances and visual flair. I believe it is the lot of any honest critic to give reasonable credit where it’s due, and the talented crew definitely deserves to be noted for the work they put forth here.

Had they been working with a sharper script, they could have made a truly formidable work of art.

6.0/10

RED FLAG FOR PARENTS (spoiler alert)

-DRUG ABUSE: None.

-PROFANITY: There are only a couple of religious exclamations made by the characters. Not that these are good, but hey, I still appreciated the fact that there is barely any profanity at all.

-SEXUAL CONTENT: The Light Between Oceans is PG-13 primarily for its mature sexual themes. Most of these things are merely depicted through visual storytelling, particularly in two brief but very obvious sex scenes. The first involves a newlywed couple getting into bed for the first time; Alicia Vikander is topless but her hair covers her breasts, and then they are covered as Michael Fassbender crawls into the sheets with her. From here there is no nudity since the camera focuses on their facial and shoulder regions, but they do moan with increasing intensity as they kiss and move around. In the next scene, all we see is an image of Vikander’s bare abdomen while Fassbender drags his fingers down her and kisses the abdomen. Both scenes imply that this married couple had sex in order to get the wife pregnant.

-SUBJECT MATTER: Repentance and forgiveness are both key themes of the overarching story, and they often interweave with each other to share a message with the audience. Failed pregnancies also play a huge role in the dramatic situations which take place.

-VIOLENCE: Alicia Vikander’s character suffers two consecutive miscarriages. The first one involves her sitting alone in a bathroom, in which she increasingly groans, screams, writhes with pain and even drools as the incident continues on. We see a small splotch of blood on the clothing near her crotch. The next miscarriage scene is not gruesome in any way, but it is more disturbing than the previous one solely because of how Alicia Vikander articulated her character’s extreme hysteria.