The Impossible (12A)

Well, the tsunami was done well, and the kids is a good actor, but that's about it for me. This film is pure emotional manipulation, with it endless cycle of separation/reunion/separation etc. yet has nothing much to tell us about the events themselves. There are so many stories the could have told - about the impact on the community, the overwhelmed health system,NGO failings, and so on. Instead we get this schmaltz.

the movie was amazing. it does not matter which actor is used, or how it is portrayed but simply the fact that it was a great movie. in regards to individuals who put this movie down (Ashley Wilkes) a few comments below, piss off.

I went to see the film today with my partner and it certainly generated lots of discussion when we came out of the cinema. One thing that neither of us could deny was that we were both in tears during various parts of the film. It took us back to that day that we both remember all too well (my partner was actually in Thailand with friends when it happened). It upsets me to read those reviews that state they can't care about the main characters due to their obvious wealth.....what on earth does that mean? Are you saying that if you're rich then you don't matter? Should the rich have all died and the poor lived?? When mother nature strikes it doesn't matter how much money you have. I think what tugged at my heart strings the most in that film were the acts of human kindness from both the locals and other people who were obviously suffering too. Rich, poor, black, white, none of that mattered and nor should it matter. Lucas certainly found a strength from within that he probably never knew he had - such a challenging role for a young actor which I thought he tackled beautifully. Whilst watching today I didn't really think or care about the fact that the family were wealthy as it didn't matter. Like everyone else going to see this film I knew that it was based on a true story of a family who all survived against the odds. I knew it wasn't a documentary....it was never pretending to be. It made me think and remember, it made me cry and at times it got me angry and frustrated but most of all it made me appreciate my loved ones that little bit more so I would say, as movies go, it did it's job.

My thoughts and rating have disappeared. As there was nothing in them anyone could possibly found offensive I must conclude this site simply doesn't function correctly. (Re Gangster Squad) I'll try again in a few months.

My thoughts and rating have disappeared. There was nothing in them that anyone could have possibly found offensive so, as I suspected (Gangster Squad), this site does not function properly.

This movie gripped me from beginning to end. There was complete silence in the cinema where I went to yersterday (this movie only opened in the Netherlands this week) throughout the whole movie and at the very end, one could really feel that each and everyone in the whole cinema was totally moved by this movie. Naomi Watts gave an Oscar-deserving performance of a lifetime. I hope that she wins the Best Actress Oscar on Sunday 24th February 2013 in L.A., considering how many good films she has already made in her remarkable film-making career. In Holland, a far-right anti-islam politician by the name of Geert Wilders even dared to mention about a forthcoming *tsunami of muslims* a couple of years back without ever taking into consideration the feelings of the families of the many hundreds of thousands of tsunami victims and the survivors on Boxing Day in 2004 in Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, Myanmar etc. (or maybe he has no feelings at all in the first place, who knows). On behalf of all the families and survivors of the many hundreds of tsunami victims on that most tragic day just over eight years ago, I say here and now to the whole world: Shame on you, Mr. Geert Wilders!

This film was moving and the way it was made so real to life was absolutely amazing. The soul wrenching scenes ripped my heart out and had me in floods of tears. People who are saying this film is predictable are ridiculous! Of course you know whats going to happen it was a real event that we all knew about. I understand so many people lost their lives as well as this one family that was focused on, but they are not forgotten. It shows you the extreme extent of how many dead bodies and suffering people there were it is only focusing on one family for the point of the film. The film has inspired me and made me feel very lucky to be here with a loving family.

I went to see The Impossible with 2 of my children, ages 32 and 24. They totally loved the film and cried profusely during the scenes that were seriously cliche-ridden and contrived to MAKE viewers cry. I sat through the film feeling annoyed and insulted by the cliche scenes and canned acting - the melodrama overload was so over-the-top that at points it appeared to be stitched together skits from SNL. This is a great example of the concept that MORE (especially cliched and contrived film content) is profoundly LESS. If there was supposed to be a point to The Impossible, it was lost in the helper-skelter/disjointed manner in which the action was (or wasn't arranged), the canned acting, the cliched close-ups of grasping hands and agonized faces, gaping wounds, rivers of blood and on and on. But the worst part of the movie was the bastardization of the true story by focusing entirely on this rich caucasian family (even making them non-Spanish) and completely ignoring the scope of this catastrophe on the local people in the many countries the tsunami devastated. In my view, this approach is disgraceful and the agenda was obviously to create a contrivance with special effects and big name 2 big name actors in hopes that a large enough percentage of the 35 and younger crowd would fall for the special effects, canned acting, hyper-melodrama, contrivances and convenient coincidences so that Lionsgate could make a killing in profits from the film. My children asked me whether or not I like The Impossible. I simply told them that I couldn't talk about it. And I couldn't because they wouldn't understand why I found the movie so disgusting.

Amazing

In the scale of Shindlers List or The Colour Purple, completely amazing, brililant but extremely harrowing!