February 1, 2021
Sam Bloom (Naomi Watts) led a very active lifestyle. She was wife to photographer Cam (Andrew Lincoln) and mother to three hyperactive boys. She was a hospital nurse by profession and a surfer in her spare time. However, one fateful day while on vacation in Thailand, Sam had a freak accident that caused a severe spinal injury that left her hemiplegic from the hip down and wheelchair-bound.
Since then, Sam withdrew from her usual family activities and would rather stay in bed. One day, the boys brought home a young magpie with an injured wing, calling it Penguin because of its black and white color. Initially annoyed with the bird's noisy ruckus, Sam eventually formed a close bond with the bird as it healed and vice versa, inspiring Sam to move on with life beyond her difficult disability.
With Naomi Watt's character suffering a severe injury during a vacation in Thailand, it called back to my mind a previous movie of hers, "The Impossible" (J.A. Bayona, 2012), where Watts also played a character who suffered severe leg injuries when she got caught in a tsunami surge also in Thailand. This new one however, did not dwell too much on the events in Thailand however, and focused on the aftermath of the injury back home in Australia.
Watts was undoubtedly a very good actress here, in a physically-challenging role not entirely new to her. She got all Sam's pent-up emotions on her face most the time and she knew when to release them at just the right moments. The novelty of this role for Watts was having to work very closely with a magpie, a truly impressively-trained animal. Seeing the bird's long sharp beak so near her face made me nervous, but these two really had chemistry.
This was clearly an inspirational type film and the sweepingly dramatic musical score made sure we don't forget it. You somehow knew how the story would run its course, with Penguin's healing serving as the metaphor of Sam's own healing. Despite being treacly sweet and predictable, it did not fail in its aim to project heartwarming serving of hope. Do stay on for the closing credits and see beautiful photos of the real Sam and Penguin taken by the real Cameron Bloom. 6/10.
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