I heard a lot about this film and decided to go and check it out, and was glad that I did. It starred Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor as a couple vacationing with their three kids, for the Christmas holiday, in a fancy resort in Thailand. On about the second day they were all swimming and enjoying themselves when the great tsunami of 2004 comes rolling in. This film is the true account of how this family was torn apart by the tsunami and how they eventually would all come back together, no one in the family having perished, hence the name of the film, ‘The Impossible‘. The director of the film, Juan Antonio Bayona, through excellent camera work, was able to capture what the tsunami looked like from both the aerial view and the personal view, including underwater shots of Naomi’s body being thrown around like a rag doll. Naomi and her oldest son, Lucas played by Tom Holland, were able to find each other and stick together. She was badly injured and needed medical attention. They eventually were able to find help and made it to the local hospital. They don’t know where the rest of the family was at this point, nor did we, the viewers. Summing of the rest of the film here, the dad, was eventually reunited with the rest of the family at this hospital. They had incredible insurance that paid for them to be whisked away in a private jet, back home, credits roll, and they lived happily ever after.
Now backing up a bit, I want to discuss some of the most emotional scenes in the movie.
When Naomi and her son were in the hospital, she told him to go help people, not to just sit around waiting. So that’s what he did. He was able to reunite a father that was looking for his son. When he returned, his mom was gone. Lucas’ emotions came through in these scenes when he was desperate to find his mom.
Switching to Ewan McGregor’s character, there was a scene where a stranger lends him his phone to call back home. He has a very emotional conversation with his father-in-law, where he tells him he doesn’t know where his daughter and the kids are.
Moving ahead to near the end of the film, when Lucas is reunited with his two little brothers, and then their dad, this was very emotional and very believable.
This was one of the best films of 2012. It was full of great acting, lots of heart-wrenching scenes, and excellent cinematography. Lucas, played by Tom Holland, was perfectly cast as the oldest son, and I think we will be seeing a lot more of him in the coming years. I cannot remember any other film having more of an emotional impact than this, so much so, I think it’s almost like cheating to get a higher score.
*****
