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Dec 21, 2012 By John Everhart Web Exclusive

Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible is a true-to-life account of a family’s experiences during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, and it brings the natural disaster to the big screen with an astonishing visual acumen. This is no The Day After Tomorrow-esque caricature, as the audience is provided unsettling scenes of exposed flesh, broken limbs, and myriad grotesque carnage in the aftermath of the storm. Unfortunately, the visceral impact of these images is perhaps the film’s greatest strength, as the plot, while based on a true story of a family’s survival, often feels sugarcoated and glossed over.

Naomi Watts is terrific as Maria, the mother of three young sons, fearlessly battling potentially fatal wounds while exuding a vulnerable yet resilient countenance. Ewan McGregor is unfortunately one-dimensional and lackluster as the father Henry, spouting risible platitudes and generally coming across as odiously unbelievable in what’s essentially an everyman role.

The child actors, in particular Tom Holland as Lucas, are adequate, but they can’t rescue the saccharine, feel-good depths the film deigns to descend into. It’s a fine and uplifting story, but one that sorely requires a director capable of a degree of cynicism, feigned or not, to succeed in the context of a feature-length film. (www.theimpossible-movie.com)

Author rating: 4/10