Movie Review: The Light Between Oceans (2016)

Background:

Director: Derek Cianfrance

Cast: Michael Fassbender (Tom Sherbourne), Alicia Vikander (Isabel Graysmark), Rachel Weisz (Hannah Roennfeldt)

Genres: Drama, Romance

I enjoyed this movie, but I don't know if I would go out and buy it with my own money. I got this from library, and I don't even know if I would watch this again. The cinematography was absolutely beautiful, but I don't know if it makes up for the slow pacing of the movie (that was boring at times). I still don't know how I feel about this movie as a whole.

Plot and Thoughts:

First off, Tom looked a lot older than I had imagined him. I remember he was a few years older than Isabel, which was *scandalous* at the time. But once he shaved he looked a lot younger.

I forgot how fast their relationship started. I mean, Isabel made a joke on their first "date" about marrying him so she could go to Janus with him. And then as soon as he goes back to Janus (island with the lighthouse) they start writing back and forth to each other and they "can stop thinking about each other".

I don't know how long it was but Isabel agrees to marry him so he goes back to Point Partageuse, the closest town by boat from Janus and where Isabel lives. They get married and she goes pretty quickly back to Janus with Tom.

It was very devastating seeing the big storm scene and Isabel being in so much pain and helpless with no one to care for her until the morning. It is hard for me to feel for and connect with Isabel, who ends up having two miscarriages, and decides to take the baby in the boat and raise her as her own child. I also think Tom could've done more and actually think about taking a child that wasn't even theirs.

I thought Tom's breaking point would've been when they went to baptize Lucy, and he saw the grave of Franz Roennfeldt and Grace (aka Lucy). And he even meets Hannah Potts (Lucy's birth mother). I don't know how he lived with himself for 4 years before saying something.

I also don't get why the locals weren't blamed for what happened to Franz and the baby. I mean he was scared enough to grab his baby and go out into sea with nothing but themselves. Why wasn't Hannah mad enough to prosecute these people? Especially since her dad is the wealthiest man in the town.

I did like how in the end Isabel decided to take the blame and actually speak up that it was her idea to keep Lucy, basically saving Tom years spent in jail for murder and kidnapping. The ending came abruptly which kind of annoyed me because I wanted Isabel to be the one to see Lucy-Grace when she was grown up. 

I did have little tears at the end when Lucy-Grace was reading the letter that Isabel left for. I mean it really hits you in the gut on how much this woman did to keep this baby.

I mean I liked the movie, but something was missing. I've concluded the movie is heartfelt but boring (at times).

Accuracy to Book:

The movie is very accurate to the book I mean they hit all the main points from the book. I did like the book significantly better than the movie, but I think that was because we didn't get the 400+ pages of full detail of the Sherbourne's/Hannah's lives. I also like how they didn't add anything that wasn't in the book (at least that I can remember).

I give this movie a 6/10 stars.

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆