Strong Cast Turns on ‘The Light Between Oceans’

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Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – In the early 1970s, “Love Story” was all the rage, with its catchphrase “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” Just as sudsy, and with its own catchphrase, is “The Light Between the Oceans.” The film, set in the early 20th Century, salvages a by-the-numbers tale with fine performances.

This is a love story, between a lighthouse keeper and his conveniently available young bride. It can be be categorized as a dignified soap opera, involving a baby and a surprising reveal. The high level actors Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz deeply create characters that work, but the story has some issues in keeping up with them. The time setting of 1918 through the 1920s is perfectly handled, as a world resentfully deals with the loss of life and innocence after World War I. Director/screenplay adapter Derek Cianfrance (“The Place Beyond the Pines”) has been more succinct in his previous films, but still turns in a well-composed atmosphere, in a glorious Australian seaside setting.

Tom (Michael Fassbender) is a WWI veteran in 1918 with post-war trauma. He desires a change of venue, and accepts a temporary post at a solitary lighthouse. The six month duty is extended to three years, and Tom begins to court the lovely Isabel (Alicia Vikander), in the closest town to the outpost. They agree to marry, and start a remote life together while Tom tends the light.

Isabel (Alicia Vikander) and Tom (Michael Fassbender) Get Connected in ‘The Light Between Oceans’
Photo credit: Walt Disney Studios

Two miscarriages from Isabel strains their relationship, but the tide turns when a lifeboat washes ashore, with a dead man and a live infant. Isabel convinces Tom to keep the baby (as news of her second miscarriage wasn’t given to the mainland), and everyone assumes it’s their child. When the real mother shows up (Rachel Weisz), it tests Tom and Isabel’s love and survival.


The combination of Fassbender, Vikander and Weisz is performance gold, and they often rise above the stiff and predictable material. Fassbender really knows how to establish character, and creates a depth to his second chance war veteran that is empathetic and soulful. Vikander and Weisz do the most with the least background material, but each have scenes that are heart-breaking, and deliver that emotion with a direct and natural tone.

The “presence” that is established in any movie is through the cast, and the combination of movie star energy and character performers enhances the time and place. Like “The Place Between the Pines,” director Cianfrance gets the most out of his cast, and the setting of the early 20th Century connects the Victorian generation against the one torn by war. There is a nobility at the Victorian level, and they are able to aid the couple once the crisis takes hold.

Even as the film length is over 130 minutes, the final edit still seems to have obvious gaps in the story. Weisz’s character has a sister, who seems more sympathetic to the situation on Tom and Isabel’s side, but that is never exploited. Also the resolution comes with an epilogue, more than 25 years after the conflict, but the emotional motivations are too attached to the previous era. It didn’t feel necessary, or could have been different.

Tom Shows a Domestic Side in ‘The Light Between Oceans’
Photo credit: Walt Disney Studios

The predictability of the story also steered it to soap opera territory, as characters and situations were set up conveniently toward confrontation. Cianfrance adapted the story from a popular source novel by M.L. Steadman, and the character backgrounds could have been strengthened by a more literary approach, to uplift the ensemble and story. However, it does maintain an interest level throughout the length, due mostly to how the cast delivers the particulars.

First date people alert, this is a good one for romance, story and scope, to satisfy the selection process that often differ between the genders or personalities. Watch for the catchphrase, and you’ll never have to say you’re sorry.

By PATRICK McDONALD Writer, Editorial Coordinator HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com