Having staked his claim as a noted Academy Award-worthy filmmaker (Best Picture and Best Director on A Beautiful Mind along with nominations in both categories seven years later for Frost/Nixon), Ron Howard has ventured down a more eclectic pathway as of late, bounding from more traditional blockbuster adaptations (The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons) to relationship dramedy (The Dilemma) to Hip Hop documentary (Made in America), but his brand of craftsmanship has always helped him to stay the course. Now, he’s applying that effort to the tale of the whaling ship in 1820, engaged in an epic struggle with a sperm whale, which became the basis for Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. In addition, In the Heart of the Sea reunites Howard with his Rush co-star Chris Hemsworth, who plays the driven captain of the whaling ship Essex. (Opens wide Friday) (PG-13) Not screened in time for review
This article appears in Dec 9-15, 2015.