So I started this blog because yesterday I saw The Impossible & decided that my recap of it was too long to tweet in tiny little 140 character increments! I don’t know why a blog has just now occurred to me as a wise way to better express my views on all things film related? I may even revise/repost my review of Sunday’s Golden Globes on here 🙂 However, here forth this page will be about the movie The Impossible.

WOW!!! It took me a while to even come up with words for this spectacular film & I still don’t think they do it justice so I’ll just describe it in my opinion. Well for starters I cried start to finish. It is not uncommon for movies to have a scene that makes me cry, but with this whole film it just never stopped. Secondly I will discuss the pure gruesomeness of the film. I have hands down the strongest stomach of anyone I have ever met & even I cringed a few times (however, I am also proud to be able to say that I never closed my eyes or looked away from the gore once, which I strongly doubt many others can say). It was done so incredibly well, which makes the story that much more believable, Tarantino should take notes! I realize that was the point though, if everything didn’t look 100% real, people would not be able to grasp the pure devastation of this event as well. Therefore I commend particularly the makeup department on doing an absolutely AMAZING job. Could not have been easy, & in my opinion the best work I’ve seen to date. Only thing I could even comment on was Naomi’s black eye, I could often see the shadow caked in the creases of her lid when her eyes were shut. But that is literally me being as absolutely nit picky as humanly possible. The work was truly astounding! I wanted to press pause on the shot of the leg (I won’t spoil it, but those who have seen the movie know the shot I am talking about) to see how that was done, because again, looked so realistic! Needless to say, it has my vote for makeup! Next would be the acting… of course Naomi is expected to be spectacular, but what shocked me was the talent of the three little boys! They were incredible! Particularly Tom Holland who plays Lucas!

Looking at the film from another perspective… I was not an ordinary observer of the film, but someone who lost my beachfront home in hurricane Katrina. To me, many of the heli shots looked just like the Gulf Coast did after Katrina. I think that is another thing that made it so difficult for me to endure this movie. That wave is so real to me! I still to this day have nightmares about the 30 ft tidal surge crashing through & taking my house & everything I’ve ever owned with it. Its always those same brown waters swirling with everything in them EXACTLY the way they captured it in the movie! I’ve never been able to describe it before to people who don’t understand, but that is EXACTLY what I see! Thus I give my vote for cinematography to this film as well. The ONLY thing the film didn’t capture (& only because it was physically impossible) is the overwhelming smell accompanying the mud covered devastation left by these waves that literally gags you. So that is one extra element I was dealing with on top of revisiting my past while watching this.  Hurricanes are quite different from tsunamis don’t get me wrong! With hurricanes we are lucky enough to get a warning so we are able to pack up as much stuff as we can & head for shelter unlike the people taken by surprise & getting ripped to pieces in this movie & I am thankful for that! Even still, there are so many similarities (especially with Katrina’s record breaking tidal surge) that made this movie touch a very special place in my heart! The family this film was based on was on vacation when the Tsunami hit. (SPOILER ALERT) Once they were lucky enough to survive the wave & be reunited with each other, they had a home to go to. That was not the case for us after Katrina & many of those Thai people in the movie. So keep that in mind when you see this movie. For the average person who is affected by the intensity of the event in this movie, take into consideration how much harder it is for people who have lost everything & were maybe just lucky to even escape with their life in tragedies like this, house fires, & most recently hurricane Sandy.

Ultimately I give this movie 5 gold stars, two thumbs up, etc etc etc… Motion Picture of the Year, hell, Motion Picture of my Lifetime! I don’t know the family personally or how well their story was portrayed through this film, but I think the impact is the same regardless. & I give mad props to the bravery & determination exhibited by all 5 members of the marvelous family who endured this! My heart goes out to you & everyone affected by this horrific event! 9 years later & I’m sure things are still being rebuilt & this film stirs up many memories. STAY STRONG! ❤

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