MovieChat Forums > The Light Between Oceans (2016) Discussion > Loved the movie but there was something ...

Loved the movie but there was something missing (spoilers)

posted 8 years ago by Capitolina
3 replies | jump to latest

I just watched the movie yesterday and cried a lot, even though there was a man talking on his cellphone next to me. Ugh.

I think the movie is very well done and the acting is perfect. Initially I was a bit annoyed with Alicia Vikander but later I understood she wanted to make a contrast between optimistic and full of life young Isabel and the bitter and angrier woman she became.

Fassbender and Weisz are flawless, as always, and all the supportive cast were really really good.

I left the movie in tears but feeling something was missing.

Only today I realized what, maybe, was lacking: Somehow I did not hate Isabel as I hated her on the book when she decided to let Tom rot in jail. I do not remember the book that well but I still had this feeling that she was so unfair, and in my opinion that part was not very well translated to the screen. Like, she really intented to let anyone think he had murdered Lucy's father.

Anyway, maybe it is me and I really had a wonderful experience watching the movie. I might watch it again, but at home, far away from people who not only keep their cellphones on but answer calls during the screening :(

"...It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Pgle05 8 years ago

I loved it too.. I almost didnt know how to feel towards the end, who should I like/dislike? Who should I agree/disagree with? It was such a difficult situation and felt I could empathise with them all... Very well done IMO. (Haven't read the book btw)

[–] fn-sj 8 years ago

I too was eager to see this one, not least because of the acting power of the leads. Great cinematography and powerful acting...but...yes something was missing. Yes the script wasn't fleshed out enough but I felt that the character of Isobel and her emotional and psychological journey was pivotal in rooting this narrative with the audience. This just didn't happen. It wasn't for the lack of acting ability (obviously) so again I would lay the blame with the director. If the story was to have any true emotional currency , the audience had to have some insight into why she made all her decisions throughout the movie, from marrying a lighthouse keeper she'd only met once to why she would keep the baby , miscarriages notwithstanding.

Without this insight into the mind of this central character, the whole movie felt light and didn't really justify such a long runtime.