The Light Between Oceans Review (2016)

The Light Between Oceans 

  Sigh. . . I'm not usually into romantic movies, but the The Light Between Oceans is quite something. 

  Director Derek Cianfrance has been on my radar for a while. I fell in love with him after watching Place Beyond The Pines and Blue Valentine (Now two of my favorite films). Something about the way he tells stories is deeply affecting in extremely layered ways. Every film he makes feels like his passion piece, and The Light Between Oceans is no different. 

  The cinematography for this movie (by Adam Arkapaw) blew me away. The wide sweeping shots of the ocean and the lighthouse . . . Ugh. Just stunning and moody, and romantic. 

  Then we have two of the best actors working today; Alicia Vikander and Michael Fassbender. The first act of this movie could have very easily been a sappy Nicholas Sparks disaster, but the chemistry between Fassbender and Vikander work so well. Maybe the fact that they're dating in real life helped with authenticity, maybe not. Either way, you are really rooting for these two through thick and thin. 

  One thing about Derek Cianfrance, is that his films tend to be kind of long. Because of this, he can come off a little self indulgent. If they had shaved off thirty minutes of the film, I wouldn't have been mad, but so much charisma and effort was put into all three acts that it never really ruins it. Overall, I was super taken by this movie, but I'm not too sure of it's re-watch-ability. 7 out of 10 (Very Good)