“Back to my first weekend in LA, if I hadn’t had the sticker shock yet of realizing just how much it was gonna maintain my movie habit at current levels, I may have just skipped this movie. Admittedly, most of my slow down in the weeks since has to do with lack of time and lack of quality choices (yay back to school September slowdown!).
While the movie does have a classic romantic feel to me, which would be a turnoff, my draw to the film was twofold. One, our leads Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, both of whom are forces to reckon with when given the right material, as was the case here. Two, the story sounded unique and kinda dark to me. I like unique and I like dark. Our power couple are a married couple living in seclusion at a lighthouse in Australia (I somehow missed the Australia part when I saw it). After failed attempts at having children, a small boat washes ashore with an infant and her mysteriously deceased father. The two argue over the right path to take, but ultimately decide to secretly adopt the child and pass her off as their own. Some time later, while taking some time off in town, they encounter the woman who may be the rightful mother.
This feels like one of those slow and sweeping period dramas of the early 90s. That’s not necessarily a criticism, merely an observation, especially since this flavor of heavy hitter is a little rare nowadays. And yes, it hit very heavy. I’m so used to the crowd pleasers that have saturated the theaters recently, that when this film took a turn less traveled, it had great impact. Certainly the type of movie that gets you thinking and questioning.
I’m not even gonna bother talking about how brilliant our leads were, because it’ll just be a gushy mess. I will just quickly say that this may be Vikander’s best role to date, even moreso than her Oscar winning turn last year in The Danish Girl. Fassbender likewise is at his best with solid material.
Anyways, well done, though not necessarily for everyone. On the entertainment level, it does drag on a bit, so I feel like one watch was enough. But it was a good watch
The Light Between Oceans – \m/ \m/ \m/”