True Spirit (2023)
Jessica Watson is famous for sailing solo around the world on her yacht, Ella’s Pink Lady from October of 2009 until May of 2010, and her biopic, True Spirit, which is based on her book of the same title, is inspirational. Various forms of that word have been used so often in connection with Watson’s saga that it’s almost cliched, but nothing else will do.
The film is a mixture of flashbacks, preparations for the voyage and the actual experience, and it’s clear from the get-go that Jessica has had no ordinary childhood. In addition to being part of a tight homeschooling family, Watson has dyslexia, which makes learning to sail a challenge, but like everything else, she’s supported and loved as she learns to work around the difficulties.
It would be too easy for True Spirit to be an Old Man and the Sea scenario, with Watson sitting looking at the ocean, alone with her thoughts, and while the film does have a little of that, there’s too much going on. The movie doesn’t exhaustively cover every single day but just hits the high points, so there isn’t time for anything to get boring.
Home is also not as far away as it might seem. Watson’s older sister, Emily, starts a blog so everyone can keep track of her adventure (Read the real blog here). Watson has to check in with her family and her mentor, Bill, who are holed up in the Watson home waiting for news and dodging the press, who camp out on the lawn like birds of ill omen.
There’s really no way to spoil True Spirit. We already know Watson made it back and is thriving today, so even during the movie’s Perfect Storm moments there isn’t a ton of suspense, although we might wonder how in the world Watson made it out. Some moments play on the credibility, such as when a wave pushes the Pink Lady underwater and after sinking a bit, it somehow rights itself and pops out of the water like a perky, plucky dolphin with nothing broken or out of place.
Where the movie succeeds is making us care about the characters, and it helps that these actors have believable chemistry. There are plenty of family moments and fun stuff throughout, such as Watson unwrapping Christmas presents by herself while her brother, Tom blasts “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” over the phone, or when she dances with the stuffed koala her youngest sister, Hannah, has loaned her for the trip.
Where the movie doesn’t succeed is the cheese liberally sprinkled all over the place. It’s got montages. It’s got hugs. It’s got bright, danceable music. It’s got sunrises breaking over the protagonist’s face. It’s even got Watson perched on the Pink Lady’s bow, which gave me major I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD vibes, although, thankfully, the movie doesn’t go there. And anyway, Watson would stick QUEEN in for KING.
Not that she wouldn’t deserve it, since Watson’s achievement is pretty darned fabulous. That’s why I can’t begrudge True Spirit its occasional cheesiness. When so many movies and shows are mulishly gritty, dark and sordidly dramatic, not to mention the news (or just plain old life) can be depressing, an inspirational story is a comfortable, bracing thing.
True Spirit is currently streaming on Netflix. Rated TV-PG.
My grade: B
Principal cast: Teagan Croft, Anna Paquin, Josh Lawson, Cliff Curtis, Bridget Webb, Vivien Turner, Todd Lasance, Stacy Clausen
Directed by Sarah Spillane.
Written by Sarah Spillane, Rebecca Banner, and Cathy Randall.