Verschollen auf hoher See

"It is always possible for good men to do good, and for evil men to do evil. But for good men to do evil - that takes religion."

I've seen variations on that quote, and they're variously attributed to Mark Twain or Bertrand Russell. Anyway, it's an apt one to mention in conjunction with this movie.

An atheist and his wife are invited by his religious brother Jim on a sailing trip. The brother is leaving his church, because he got "the call" to do missionary work in Costa Rica. He plans to go by trimaran from Vancouver, Canada - a 2,000 mile+ trip.

On the way, the boat encounters a bad storm. They have trouble getting the radio to work, and Jim seems a little dazed. They capsize and Jim says it's his fault because his love for the boat was overwhelming his love for god, which doesn't sound likely.

The wife seems the worst off, growing delusional at times. Jim still seems a little out of it, and some of his answers to questions seem to be lies. They don't have much food or liquid to drink, and it seems to be mysteriously dwindling. Jim is convinced god will save them, or will whenever the other two accept Jesus as their savior.

It's a pretty good movie, mostly taking place on the capsized trimaran. At times it leaves them to look at what the coast guard is doing, as well as a blind amateur radio operator who got part of a call from the trimaran.

While based on a novel, which I'm curious to read, the movie and video box also indicate this was based on a true story. As with some movies of that kind, the movie ends with some text indicating what happened to some of the people.