As handsomely constructed as the wooden vessel on which it’s largely set, yet dramatically choppy as the ocean its protagonists set out to conquer, In the Heart of the Sea feels like the most windless, workmanlike adaptation of its ambitious story possible.

That may sound utterly damning, though it should be said that there are far worse things for a movie to be than serviceable. Director Ron Howard does his best to recreate the physical and psychological adversities endured by his characters, even succeeding in some places, and most of the central performances are appropriately rough-and-tumble. There are also a couple of solidly executed action sequences in the movie’s first half, moments Howard mines for decent amounts of tension. But anyone familiar with the real-life tale at the heart of this endeavor should be nonetheless dismayed by how strangely rudderless Howard’s take on the material feels, from first frame to last.