True Spirit

2023 - 2 - 3

jessica watson

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

True Spirit review – Netflix's Jessica Watson biopic is cheesy and ... (The Guardian)

This film's daytime-soap vibes render an unquestionably inspiring true story into an experience that feels entirely false.

“If we weren’t in it, we were on it,” she continues, reflecting on “the magic and allure of the sea” and how “I could hear the ocean calling my name,” before Empire of the Sun’s Walking on a Dream kicks in. Spillane’s last film, 2013 drama Around the Block, starred Christian Ricci as a US high school teacher situated in Redfern and also opened with a slab of neat voiceover. Bathed in contemplative blue light, Julie, whose dialogue sounds as if she’s reading from a greetings card, recalls a song they used to listen to together and instructs her daughter to “search for the brightest star in the sky … “I grew up on the Sunshine Coast in Australia, which means my family and I were never far from the ocean,” the protagonist begins. And in the near-silent 2013 survival drama All is Lost, Robert Redford attempts to communicate with the outside world via the ol’ message in a bottle, putting a handwritten note in a jar then tossing it into the ocean. In the 2003 Australian thriller Visitors, Radha Mitchell delivers a rousing performance as a young woman also sailing solo around the world, whose longing for conversational engagement leads to rather trippy outcomes: not only does she talk to her cat, but her cat talks back (and then the apparitions arrive …).

The true story of <em>True Spirit</em>: What really happened on ... (EW.com)

Is 'True Spirit' based on a true story? Here's what really happened on Jessica Watson's adventure as she attempted to become the youngest person to sail ...

That's a little bit of an exaggeration there, but it was real to the experience of it feeling like forever." It is, however, very true to what that experience is like for a sailor, how incredibly frustrating it is to just be at the mercy of the elements and just waiting for the wind to come back. It really made me in a way because having to go through that and find the strength to continue really set me up for being able to deal with the storms at sea." I haven't really got a concept of how long it was in reality, but we are talking seconds compared to what we see in the movie, which stretches on forever in minutes and minutes and minutes. "So many people can relate to this, and it's not far off from my reality," Watson says, before admitting with a laugh, "I mean, I like to think that I was never that bad with my lats and longs and getting muddled up. "But what was lucky in a twisted way was that COVID was really big in Australia at that time, and so the borders between my home state and the state we were filming in had closed. It was my team and my poor family who caught the worst of that, but it was intense." "That was something I still have the occasional nightmare about, but it's so important to the story. "That collision scene's one of the ones that's really accurate, so that one's pretty intense for me," Watson says. "At that point, the other actors were gone, and it was just me, so sometimes that was really difficult to get into the scene," she says. But at the same time, I don't think people really understood that there had been years and years of preparation. "It really doesn't worry me because it was about the adventure," she adds.

True Spirit movie review & film summary (2023) | Roger Ebert (Roger Ebert)

Effective but simplistic dramatization of then-16 year old Jessica Watson circling the world in a sailboat.

[Todd Lasance](/cast-and-crew/todd-lasance)—a showboater with a punchable smirk who has been given the name "Atherton," presumably an homage to the narcissist portrayed by actor William Atherton in " [Die Hard](/reviews/die-hard-1988)." Watson's memoir and the 2010 documentary about her achievement, "210 Days," are altogether more thorough and nuanced looks at this story, though of course that's nearly always true of documentaries that tell the same story as works of fiction. In real life, as noted in Watson's memoir, her dad vigorously opposed her taking the trip, but the film makes it seem as if he had only a moment's hesitation; and Cliff Curtis' "coach" character, Ben Watson, is a fictionalized version of Watson's real mentor and project manager, Bruce Arms.

True Spirit (2023) Movie Review - A feel-good inspirational true story (The Review Geek)

It is 2009, and a young Australian teen, Jessica Watson, already an avid sailor at 16 years old, has pledged to sail around the world by herself.

The makers of this film tried to balance out a couple of intense moments at sea with a lot of other positive things (displaying her courage and her wholesome relationship with her family, etc.). All that said, True Spirit is definitely inspiring, and discovering this real-life story throughout the movie reminds us why this is still a great medium. It is 2009, and a young Australian teen, Jessica Watson, already an avid sailor at 16 years old, has pledged to sail around the world by herself.

Is 'True Spirit' Based On A True Story? All About The Netflix Film And ... (Women's Health)

A new Netflix film, 'True Spirit', follows 16-year-old sailor Jessica Watson's story. Here's what to know about the film and the true story it's based on.

[mentor in the movie](https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/sven-spannekrebs-netflix-the-swimmers-now/). But “Ben” is actually based on a group of people who helped Jessica, she [shared on Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/CnbdjMLLpbF). [recent podcast, I've Got News For You, where she did an interview](https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=74968X1576255&url=https%3A%2F%2Fpodcasts.apple.com%2Fau%2Fpodcast%2Five-got-news-for-you%2Fid1593788055) about the film and said the movie was pretty accurate. She also has an MBA and has written a second book, a novel called [Indigo Blue](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0734418132). Here’s what the Netflix [movie gets right](https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/the-empress-true-story-netflix/), what the streamer added, and an update on where Jessica is today. Jessica has repeatedly posted about True Spirit on Instagram, applauding the acting and filmmaking. Teagan Croft, an 18-year-old actress from Australia, takes on the role of Jessica in the film. She was later named Youth Representative for the United Nations World Food Program, and is a founding member of the marine start-up She spent years preparing for her journey, logging 6,000 coastal miles and 6,000 ocean miles, per the Australian Museum. You just have to have a dream, believe in it, and work hard.” She also filmed a documentary while she was at sea, which was later narrated by Richard Branson. Naturally, things aren’t seamless on her journey, and Jessica runs into some terrifyingly rough seas, along with some other challenges.

True Spirit true story: Real-life inspiration behind Netflix film (Radio Times)

New Netflix film True Spirit follows a young sailor named Jessica Watson on a journey around the world, but is it a true story? Here's all you need to know.

[Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/81565954). [subscribe now](http://radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription?utm_term=evergreen-article). [Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month](https://www.netflix.com/gb/). [Film](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/) hub for more news, interviews and features or find something to watch now with our [TV Guide](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/tv-listings/) and [Streaming Guide](https://www.radiotimes.com/streaming-guide/). For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the [Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast](https://www.radiotimes.com/audio/podcasts/). Netflix is also available on [Sky Glass](https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?id=489797&clickref=radiotimes-1775862&awinmid=11005&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sky.com%2Fglass) and [Virgin Media Stream](https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?id=489797&clickref=radiotimes-1775862&awinmid=6399&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.virginmedia.com%2Ftv%2Fstreaming). [Avatar: The Way of Water](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/avatar-sequel-release-date/)), Josh Lawson ( [Bombshell](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/bombshell/)) and Anna Paquin ( [X-Men](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/x-men-mutants-mcu-release-date/)). [terms and conditions](https://www.immediate.co.uk/terms-and-conditions/) and [privacy policy](https://policies.immediate.co.uk/privacy/). [Order of Australia Medal](https://australian.museum/about/history/exhibitions/trailblazers/jessica-watson-oam/). [learn more](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/commercial-links-on-radiotimes-com/)) [Titans](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/titans-season-4-release-date/)' Teagan Croft, has now landed on [Netflix](https://www.radiotimes.com/streaming/netflix/), and it follows a young sailor on a mission to become to youngest person ever to sail around the world. [Subscribe to Radio Times magazine and get 12 issues for £1](https://www.radiotimes.com/magazine-subscription/?utm_term=evergreen-article)

Jessica Watson on True Spirit, the new film about her incredible ... (The West Australian)

Jessica Watson's solo sailing trip around the world when she was just 16 inspired the nation. Now a film about her incredible journey has come to Netflix.

Cancel anytime.

True Spirit Interview: Teagan Croft & Jessica Watson Talk True Story (ComingSoon.net)

“With the support of her sailing coach and mentor Ben Bryant (Cliff Curtis) and her parents (Josh Lawson and Academy Award winner Anna Paquin), Jessica is ...

So I was able to bring a level of authenticity that I wouldn’t have been able to without lockdown and isolation. And so, putting some of myself into there, I was really lucky that it was Covid and didn’t see my family so I had a kind of similar emotional experience to Jess, in that time. Teagan Croft: I think so. Jessica Watson: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s so weird for them, right? I think it really hit home when I came to the studios in pre-production and there were walls and walls of rooms covered in inspiration of my life. I’m so glad that I was drawn to it.

True Spirit (2023) Ending Explained - How does Jessica Watson sail ... (The Review Geek)

It is 2009, and a young Australian teen, Jessica Watson, already an avid sailor at 16 years old, has pledged to sail around the world—solo.

Eventually, the wind comes back, and she is on her way again. Jessica talks to Ben and her family, who implore her to do the safer thing, which is to give up and find a port. This gives her the dose of courage she needs, and she decides to continue with her dream. She remembers why she is doing this and gets her act together. She stops answering her family’s calls and struggles to do her daily tasks. Adding to the already obvious peril set before her is Jessica’s dyslexia.

True Spirit

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