ADRIFT – Rated PG-13

ADRIFT – Rated PG-13  

Director:  Baltasar Kormakur 

Starring:  Shailene Woodley, Sam Claflin, Grace Palmer, Jeffrey Thomas and Elizabeth Hawthorne 

Based on a true story…we meet the beautiful and headstrong Tami Oldman (Shailene Woodley), making her way through life on her own terms.

When she meets to devilishly handsome Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin), it seems that their love for the ocean, isn’t their only attraction to one another…

As their relationship blossoms, right along with their love for boating and adventure, they are given the opportunity to travel across the sea, and of course, can think of no better way to forge and even stronger bond between them, and the sea they love…

But when tragedy strikes amidst a hurricane of epic proportions, Tami must find the strength to keep herself, and the love of her life Richard ALIVE, until hopefully, by the grace of God, someone finds them…

I give ADRIFT a rating of WAIT AND CATCH THIS FILM ON DVD OR NETFLIX:  Although Woodley’s performance is the best she has done so far in her career, and the cinematography of this film is mesmerizing in large segments throughout too, but sadly, even the epicness of what Tami Oldman is facing, isn’t enough to make me send you to the theater to see this film.  I thoroughly enjoy movies based on true, real-life stories, and ADRIFT was no exception going in.  But I found that throughout this film too, the intenseness waned at times when I felt it should have been intensifying.  And as far as the lover storyline plays out, Woodley and Claflin do have chemistry, I just felt that this film doesn’t include enough of their love story along the way, to ensure that the audience was enthralled enough in their lives, and their love, to believe the lengths that Tami went through to maintain their survival.  All in all, ADRIFT is definitely not the worst film I have viewed so far this year, but it didn’t turn out being the most incredible film I’ve seen either.  And I hate not to send you to the theater to see some of the incredible imagery that appears periodically along the way, but I can’t bring myself to tell you to pay to see this film at the theater, when I believe your money would be better spent waiting to catch this film, especially if you love Woodley, and/or Claflin, on DVD or NETFLIX ;(

Kathy Kaiser