Not Without Hope: A Story of Survival at Sea

Directed by Joe Carnahan, Not Without Hope (also his 2nd of 3 films being released within 8 months of each other, between last May’s Shadow Force and next January’s The RIP) is based on the tragic yet equally hopeful true story about a group of friends whose fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Mexico, leaving them stranded at sea. Nick Schuyler (Levi), Will Bleakley (Cook), and NFL players Marquis Cooper (Plair) and Corey Smith (Terrell), are best friends who depart their hometown in Florida for a fishing trip 70 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. During the trip, a fierce storm hits and while attempting to free a trapped anchor, their boat capsizes, throwing the 4 friends violently overboard into freezing water. As the group battles massive waves, dehydration, hypothermia, and sharks, US Coast Guard Captain Timothy Close (Josh Duhamel), and his crew desperately try to find and rescue them before it’s too late. Common fare in terms of the survival genre, despite its familiarity, it remains an intense yet gripping watch.

Featuring an old-fashioned feel, the film feels like the type of survival thriller audiences would have seen in the 90’s or early 2000’s, reminiscent of such films as The Perfect Storm and Open Water. Wasting no time getting going, its ocean scenes are gripping, as the men are forced to battle several different elements of nature to survive. Carnahan’s direction makes the most out of his limited circumstances, creating an emotional connection with the characters and story, in spite of a large portion of the film taking place on the bottom of a capsized boat. Safe to infer that the film was not working with the biggest of budgets, the VFX on display here hold up well despite a lower budget, consisting mostly of storm and weather effects. Meanwhile, Levi delivers a strong performance as Nick, ranking among one of his best, as is taken through the ringer emotionally. Outside of him, Duhamel is impressive in his limited screen time as Captain Close.

While a solid entry in the survival genre, the film was not without its issues. First of all, it definitely did not need to be 2-hours long. Though not a pacing issue, there are scenes that could have been cut down or removed altogether to tighten up the pacing even more. Leaning on its true story source material, there are moments that are pretty heartbreaking, but much of its more emotional moments do not land as intended, and they are not quite as powerful as the film believes them to be. Similarly, while not outright bad, the performances, for the most part, are not as strong as they should be and outside of Levi & Duhamel, none of the actors ever leave any sort of lasting impression and fail to stand out in a meaningful way. On the other hand, something that may bother certain audiences is how the film’s message is sometimes shoved down their throats and the story can go overboard in the ways it is conveyed, but these minor issues are not as prominent as some may expect.

Above all else, Not Without Hope is a decent and well made little survival thriller that is both gripping and tense. Though a film that will likely not be considered a new classic in the survival genre, it could be a word-of-mouth crowd pleaser, granted enough audiences discover it this holiday season. Not necessarily something worth rushing out to see right away, it perhaps is worth checking out later down the road, should it be streaming, or as a home media release, for fans of the genre who are in the mood for another solid offering.

still courtesy of VVS Films

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/