Morning Light
- Year:2009
- Rating:PG
- Director:Mark Monroe
- Cast:Chris Banning, Graham Brant-Zawadzki
- Release Date:March 12, 2009
- Distributor:Walt Disney
- Running time:100 minutes
- Film Worth:$7.50
- FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
'...not enough substance...'
This film feels like it has been pulled right off the National Geographic Channel. It has a thumping soundtrack, a group of intrepid young adults, the wild open ocean and plenty of inspirational moments to get the heart strings plucking.
‘Conceived and produced' by Roy Disney, as in nephew of Walt, this film has unabashed ‘fun for the whole family' written all over it. Disney, a sailing fanatic, buys a boat and auditions a crew of 15 young adults to man it in the TRANSPAC open ocean sailing race. The crew are trained for six months in how to operate a 52-foot sloop in open ocean before they embark on the race.
The problem with this film is that there's not enough substance. You want to know more about the characters other than their predominately Ivy League status and what they think about sailing. Any time that personal history is touched upon it is quickly shoved under the carpet in favour of yet another sailing montage, complete with compulsory sunset. While hats do go off for the crew, as it looks like it was bloody hard work, the Disney brush has glossed over any moments of actual pain and toil, in favour of yet another sailing montage.
Montages and over-bearing soundtrack aside, it is still fascinating to see how people do manage to cope in these open ocean races and some of the characters, particularly the Australian one selected as skipper, endear themselves to the audience. Otherwise, the sweetness of Morning Light seems forced and unrealistic and the film never manages to reach the depths of the ocean it travels.
