A la deriva

My wife and I watched this at home on BluRay from our local library. The picture and sound are great and the surround sound makes you feel like you are in the middle of a storm.

The title sort of gives the plot away, the core story is survival during a long period in a disabled sailboat. There really isn't a lot fancy going on here, moviewise, but it is a well-made movie and knowing it really happened adds to the value of watching it.

Shailene Woodley as Tami Oldham and Sam Claflin as Richard Sharp were near the correct ages of 24 and 33 when the depicted story occurred. He was sailing all over the world when they met in Tahiti, she was just working herself along, traveling to random places, getting away from her upbringing in San Diego.

An older couple he knew needed to fly back to the states so they asked Richard to sail their larger boat to San Diego for them, he would get $10,000 for his efforts and a first class airfare back to his boat. He said OK but make that two first class tickets.

The two of them headed out, sailing happily together, until the weather turned bad. It was 1983, the systems for early warning of hurricanes was not as good as it is today.

Good movie of an interesting story of love and survival. The editing technique has the movie cutting often to several months earlier and then to the film's present.

Plot - good. Acting game - good. Mixing between past and present - also a good idea. So there're pretty good things about the movie. But the main problem is that the film is somehow slow (even though it's only 90 minutes) and the last half an hour was boring. I wouldn't watch it again but I don't regret spending time on it so I would say the IMDb raiting is definitely too low.

The free spirit American drifter Tami Oldham (Shailene Woodley) arrives in Tahiti and finds a job at the marina. When she meets the British sailor Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin), they immediately fall in love with each other. They stumble upon Richard´s old friends and they offer ten thousand dollars plus first class air tickets for them to sail their sailing ship to San Diego. Richard and Tami accept the offer but along their journey, there is a storm that throws Richard in the sea and wreaks the vessel. Tami rescues Richard from the water and they fight to survive while the vessel is adrift. Will they survive?

"Adrift" is a good film with a story of love and survival. Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin show great chemistry and wonderful performances. The screenplay entwining past and present keeps the interest in the film until the very end with an unexpected plot point. The direction and the special effects are magnificent, giving the sensation that the sailing ship is crossing a storm indeed. The camera work is also impressive shooting in small spaces with perfect edition. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Vidas à Deriva" ("Adrift Lives")

"Adrift" is a good survival drama that you know what to expect but Shailene Woodley makes it more emotionally satisfying than it would be otherwise. All the performances are exceptional, directed with good pace and beautiful cinematography and effects by Baltasar Kormakur.

This realistic, suspenseful and romantic, true story it's not quite as exciting as watching Blake Lively fighting against sharks in "The Shallows" from two summers ago, but there's still enough of interest to keep the new nautical drama "Adrift" afloat. And of course it is always refreshing to see a film where a female protagonist isn't passively waiting for a rescue. Overall it is an entertaining film with a solid dramatization of real events.

Adrift is a beautiful little tale about a young couple who fall foul of a severe storm while out boating.

Starring the underrated Shailene Woodley and Hunger Games star Sam Claflin it at it's core is a love story but like all love stories it's also a tragedy.

Based on a true story it plays out on two fronts, what is presently happening and the flashbacks that explain how it all came to be.

The movie is rather devoid of originality and we have seen it all before (Even the twist) but the film does have a strong cast and excellent cinematography to fall back on and that certainly rises it above the average.

I like Woodley, I expected her to have a considerably bigger career than she has and hope that competent little movies like this where she really shines can do something about that.

The film is utterly beautiful and worth your time even if you'll know exactly how it's going to play out.

The Good:

Very well acted

Visually stunning

The Bad:

Hardly original

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

When suffering from dehydration the best thing to do is drink alcohol

Why do I feel like Woodleys career has been eclipsed by Jennifer Lawrence?