“Okay, we got you.”

From Adrift.

In 1983, world traveler Tami Oldham (Shailene Woodley) arrived in Tahiti as her job as a cook on a ship was ending and since she wasn’t ready to head home just yet, she began looking for a job to fund the next portion of her journey around the world.  Working at the local marina, Tami meets Richard Sharp (Sam Claflin) when he pulls into dock.  Tami and Richard fall for each other and start making plans to sail around the world together.  While enjoying the simple life and planning their trip, they run into two of Richard’s friends (Elizabeth Hawthorne and Jeffrey Thomas) and the elderly couple have a proposition for Richard and Tami: they have to fly back to London suddenly and they need Richard to sail their boat from Tahiti to San Diego, California.  In exchange, the couple will provide a hefty paycheck and first-class tickets back to Richard’s boat when the trip is finished, so Tami and Richard agree to do the job.  This adventure-of-a-lifetime goes well for the young lovers at first, but the unexpected arrival of Hurricane Raymond shatters their health and safety when they become stuck in one of the largest storms to ever hit the Pacific Ocean.  The boat is blown far off course into an isolated stretch of the ocean, almost every part of the ship is damaged or destroyed, and the precious amounts of food and supplies are quickly dwindling.  Every aspect of their survival falls on Tami’s shoulders, so she decides to aim for Hawaii in the hopes that the wind will help them get to safety before time runs out.

This cinematic re-telling of the real-life events is captivating from the opening scene until the credits roll; the use of flashbacks throughout the film allows for not only character/plot development, but also a much-needed pause from the horrors the hurricane forced the characters to endure.  Claflin and Woodley carry the movie beautifully, never struggling to lead the actor-sparse story; both manage to be strong and vulnerable, simultaneously.  The only element with an out-of-place feel is the brief scene with nudity that does nothing for the story or character, but overall, Adrift is a captivating story that highlights the human spirit of survival.

| Rated: PG-13 | Running Time: 120 minutes |Genre: thriller/biography/romance |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 3* of 10|Nudity: 3 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 3 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|