Morning Light (DVD)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

Reality shows are casting a big shadow over the entertainment industry. That's no more apparent than in the latest "documentary" from Disney--Roy E. Disney, Walt's nephew. "Morning Light" feels more like a TV reality show than a full-length feature with the kind of voiceover narrator we've grown accustomed to in Disney documentaries. That's the first thing that struck me about this film. The second thing was the subject matter itself. Yes, Disney has been putting out sports movies ("Invincible"/football, "The Rookie"/baseball, "Miracle"/hockey, "The Greatest Game Ever Played"/golf), but sailing?

I didn't know this, but it turns out that Roy is a multiple winner and big player in the Transpacific Yacht Race--Transpac, for short. Competitors sail from Point Fermin at Los Angeles, to Diamond Head, Honolulu--a distance of 2,225 miles. It's the Indy 500 of yachting, a tradition since 1906, one of the most dangerous races in sailing, and Disney has competed in 17 of them. In 1999, he used a specially designed craft and a hand-picked crew of professional sailors to set a new monohull record for the crossing--just seven days, 11 hours, 41 minutes, and 27 seconds. Though that record no longer stands, it's a testament to Disney's passion for the sport, and it helps to explain why he decided to bankroll another boat--the Morning Light, a TP52 Class craft--and sponsor a crew who've never sailed in the race. Disney first completed the Transpac in 1975 at the age of 45, and he says he wanted to give young sailors the kind of opportunity he never had.

So in 2007 the call went out for talented sailors who've never competed in the Transpac. Over 500 applied, from which Disney and a team of judges selected 30 finalists who had to come to Long Beach, California for try-outs. It was a reality competition in itself, and ESPN aired a special, "Morning Light: Making the Cut," which showcased the trials. The first thing wannabes were asked to do? Remove cell phones and wallets and jump into the pool, fully clothed. They were instructed to swim the length of the pool two times and then tread water for five minutes. More challenges followed, and though there were no torches to extinguish, the whole thing had a staged feel, a "we're on camera" self-consciousness that's been reality TV's most unfortunate by-product.

Eventually Disney and his judges chose 15 sailors, calling them in one by one as if they had just designed clothing for a runway model or sung a song, and now they had to hear the judges talk about them before "sentencing," rather than simply reading their name on a list. All of this was filmed with the intent of turning it into a feature-length movie, the idea for which Disney credits TP52 Class Association director Tom Pollock. Asked by an interviewer if he was looking for pairings among the 15 that might "create a little drama during the training or the race," Disney remarked, "No. I don't think we can afford to be cutesy like that. We've got a boat that's got to go 2,500 miles safely and, hopefully, competitively." So at least Disney put sailing and safety ahead of entertainment, and he resisted any urge to create false tension or situations once the race was under way.

Using four fixed cameras and one hand-held camera operated by a man who was twice the crew's ages (18 to 23), Disney hoped to capture a you-are-there feeling, which was augmented by cameras placed on Disney's support boat, the Pyewacket--the same craft he set the record with in 1999. Disney told Sailing World's Stuart Streuli, "I hope it does for sailing what 'March of the Penguins' did for penguins. If that means raising awareness, then "Morning Light" is an unqualified success. But taken as a film, "Morning Light" has nearly as many weaknesses as strengths.

For one thing, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was watching Geraldo Rivera enter Al Capone's vault again and, live, on national television, discovering . . . nothing. The race seems almost anti-climactic, given the fact that there's not much action. The selection process and trials are more interesting, but ESPN had already done a film about the competition for the 15 spots, so it wasn't an option for first-time director Mark Monroe to shift his focus. But in view of the smooth sailing, all of the repeated emphasis during training about how one slip can cost someone his life and how dangerous this race is felt like false hype. Trailers for the film show a man falling overboard, but it was only one of many exercises that the crew went through to prepare them for the race.

Another problem is focus. Some of the crew we get to know, but the film's focus seems torn in different directions. Is this a film about a crew coming together? Rookies proving themselves? Select individuals? The Transpac? The day-to-day feelings of the participants? "Morning Light" felt as if it zig-zagged a bit rather than steering straight for a through-line that would help audiences find the film's emotional center.

That said, digital cameras capture some awfully appealing shots of the sailboats at sea, though one bright star kind of reeks of a Disney trademark moment--so much so that you wonder if Mickey ears are also hidden somewhere in the picture.

At times, the focus shifts to Steve Manson, one of four chosen who was not tabbed to actually be on the boat for the race. They were to be alternates in case someone got sick, but in the case of Manson, whom Roy Disney obviously took a shine to, he seemed to get special treatment--both in terms of camera time during the film itself, and assignment, which we don't learn until later. That felt like a misstep to me, because we learn on a bonus feature that Manson was honored by being the only rookie chosen to join Roy and his all-pro crew aboard the legendary Pyewacket and sail constantly within sight of the Morning Light. That's a story in itself, and I can't help but think that the film might have been stronger had they focused on Manson from the start and brought in the rest on the periphery.