Morning Light Movie Review

Written by AtomicPopcorn on October 17, 2008 – 7:15 am

Morning Light is a well done movie about a group of 18-23 year olds competing to be first time crew for Roy Disney’s sailboat in the Transpac. What the heck is a transpac? You’ll find the answers to that and most every other question you might have about sailing in this beautifully shot, but not overly exciting documentary.

It feels like a cross between well done reality tv and an epic adventure. Ocean views and sunset panoramas to die for, balance well with stormy close ups on board the ship. With a decent soundtrack that picks up and drops off without you feeling too manipulated, the hour and half movie moves right along.

While I left wanting to know more about the individual stories of the 15 would-be sailors, the story of the race itself was compelling. Disney brings in the 15 candidates to compete for 11 spots onboard the ship. They’ll be sailing on the Morning Light against professional sailors in the 2300 mile race from California to Hawaii. And they have to do it as a team. This is the story of the 2007 race.

The first half of the movie is dedicated to the team building and training they spend months participating in so that they can endure the 10 plus days they’ll be alone in open water. The second half focuses on the race, which in turns is boring and lifeless and then exhilarating. I thought they captured the adventure and awe that the team had perfectly. Even if you do end up seeing how spoiled most of them are. I’ll just say that when they started whining about the food they are missing for a few days, it brought back to home how contrived and unreal their ‘reality’ was in sailing boats for several months.

If you’re in the mood for some gorgeous scenery, have even a passing interest in the open water, and don’t hate the reality genre - you’ll enjoy taking the time to see Morning Light.

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