NOT WITHOUT HOPE
(director/writer: Joe Carnahan; screenwriters: E. Nicholas Mariani, book by Nick Schuyler & Jere Longman; cinematographer: Juanmi Azpiroz; editor: Kevin Hale; music: Clinton Shorter; cast: Nick Schuyler (Zachary Levi), Quentin Plair (Marquis Cooper), Terrence Terrell (Corey Smith, Marshall Cook (Will Bleakley), Josh Duhamel (Capt. Timothy Close), JoBeth Williams )Marsha, Nick’s mother); Runtime: 121; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Dean Altit, Adam Beasely, Rick French, Kia Jam, Joe Carnahan, Michael Jefferson, Leeshon Alexander, Alla Belaya, Cindy Bru, Robert A Daly Jr., Vadim Fortunin, Arianne Fraser, Deborah Glover, David Lipper, Jordan Pale, Massimillano Musina; Inaugural Entertainment; 2025)
“The action sequences tell the story.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
A true survival story thriller directed in a formulaic way by Joe Carnahan (“The Rip”/”Shadow Force”). He co-writes it with E. Nicholas Mariani. It’s based on the non-fiction book titled “Not Without Hope” by Nick Schuyler & Jere Longman. It’s an action-packed visceral treat, telling a familiar adventure story.
It takes place on the rough waters of the Gulf of Mexico, as it re-creates the 2009 accident that left four friends on a fishing outing holding onto their single-engine boat for dear-life while in the water when their boat capsized during a cyclone storm and they were 70 miles off the coast of Clearwater, Florida.
The 24-year-old personal trainer Schuyler (Zachary Levi) is a recent college graduate who played football at the University of South Florida with his best friend Will Bleakley (Marshall Cook) and their two pro football friends Marquis Cooper (Quentin Plair) and Corey Smith (Terrence Terrell), who were players with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Coast Guard is alerted about the lost boat at sea and Capt. Timothy Close (Josh Duhamel) comes to save them some 43 hours later. The film respects the will power and friendship of the men, where only one survived. The action sequences tell the story.
REVIEWED ON 6/22/2026 GRADE: B-
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