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Last year was a terrible year for hurricanes, with millions of people along the coasts evacuating or even losing their homes to storms and flooding. In the true-life adventure Adrift, a young couple faces a devastating storm not boarded up in their home but in a small boat in the middle of the ocean.
Adrift stars Shailene Woodley as Tami Oldham, a young woman from California who’s been wandering around the world since she graduated from high school. While working at a marina in Tahiti, she meets Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin), a fellow free spirit who’s been sailing alone for too long. After the two fall in love, they decide to travel the world together, but their romantic adventure turns disastrous when they sail into a hurricane. And with Richard badly injured, Tami is left to try to sail the boat back to safety.
Based on a true story, Adrift explores what happened before and after Tami and Richard found themselves in the middle of a category four hurricane somewhere between Tahiti and Dan Diego. The story skips back and forth chronologically, with the couple’s love story playing out at the same time as Tami’s fight for survival. This leaves the character development to unfold at the same time as the suspense—and, unfortunately, it just doesn’t work. The characters aren’t especially interesting—even after we’ve had some time to get to know them—and some awkward, unnatural performances make it even more difficult to connect to the characters and care about their fate.
While Tami’s fight for survival makes for a harrowing tale, it simply doesn’t make for an especially gripping film. After the initial post-hurricane scenes, she seems to spend her days at sea digging through the cabin in search of food and water or charting the course. And as the days at sea drag on, so does the film’s pacing.
Meanwhile, in the parallel story, the characters mostly just lounge on the boat while falling in love. It’s all rather sluggish and surprisingly sleepy. Audiences will most likely find themselves waiting for the action to begin—but the wait is long and the payoff is minimal.
Adrift offers a little bit of romance, a little bit of tropical paradise, and a courageous battle for survival. But this is the kind of story that simply doesn’t translate well to the screen—and instead of a gripping and emotional thriller, it feels long and slow.
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