Ethan Hawke And Charlie Cox's Adaptation Of A Classic Book Flew Under Everyone's Radar

Herman Melville's 1851 epic "Moby-Dick; or, The Whale" remains, to this day, one of the best pieces of American literature ever produced. Melville's dense prose and thickened metaphor for the divine remain pored over by literature enthusiasts everywhere. It's one of my favorite novels. I acknowledge, however, that "Moby-Dick" is still eternally dreaded by college students everywhere. Indeed, in some student circles, "Moby-Dick" has become shorthand for "dull and difficult," and it's something of a chore to trudge through Melville's long asides about the history of fishing companies and maritime habits in the mid-19th Century. Then, once those segments are weathered, one still has to deal with a heady and viscous narrative about obsession, God, and the destructive power of both.

It's a little strange that "Moby-Dick" has been adapted to film as often as it has, as its story, while possessed of certain cinematic qualities, isn't the most gripping filmic narrative. The first "Moby-Dick" adaptation was probably the 1926 silent film "The Sea Beast" starring John Barrymore, although most mainstream audiences are likely more familiar with John Huston's 1956 adaptation featuring Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab. Some may even recall that Patrick Stewart played Ahab in a 1998 TV miniseries version of Melville's classic.

Then there was the 2011 "Moby Dick" TV miniseries that debuted in August 2011. It stars William Hurt as Captain Ahab and Ethan Hawke as his first-mate, Starbuck. Charlie Cox, who's now better known for playing Daredevil in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, also appears as Ishmael, with Gillian Anderson portraying Ahab's mostly off-screen wife and Donald Sutherland depicting the preacher Father Mapple. Lastly, "Mayans M.C." veteran Raoul Trujillo portrays the badass harpooner Queequeg.

Most critics thought "Moby Dick" (2011) was pretty good, too, so it's a shame it premiered on the not-so-popular channel Encore.

The presence of Ahab's wife should clue in readers that the 2011 TV adaptation of "Moby Dick" isn't wholly faithful to Herman Melville's novel. It's sort of an expansion that portrays Captain Ahab as a twisted coot who had to leave behind an element of domesticity to get revenge on the whale that took his leg. There is also a silly scene in which Ahab's son (which isn't in the book, either) looks up at his father and asks, "Are you scared of Moby Dick?" Fans of Melville's source material will realize just how risible that line is. 

In his review for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Lloyd noted that "Moby Dick" (2011) is a grounded, realistic affair that lacks some of the wilder elements of Melville's novel; for example, it doesn't include the outsized moment where Ahab screams "From Hell's heart, I stab at thee!" The miniseries also changes Ishmael from the protagonist into a Dickensian watcher. He even becomes something of a friend and confidant of Ahab, which is definitely not part of Meilville's novel. What's more, most of the dialogue had been rewritten to sound more natural, which stands in contrast to the poetic declarations written by Melville. 

Moby Dick himself is realized through impressive special effects, and the miniseries' TV-level budget warrants some larger-looking-than-you-might-expect sailing sequences. The project cost about $25 million, which was large for an Encore miniseries at the time. "Moby Dick" was actually the very first piece of original programming put out by the network, paired with another miniseries called "The Take." Those led directly to other high-profile costumed miniseries like "Titanic: Blood and Steel" and "Hindenburg: The Last Flight." These were all presented as a block of programs called the Big Miniseries Showcase.

"Moby Dick," along with most of the other Encore miniseries, has been swallowed up by the pop culture whale, so to speak, and it remains largely forgotten to this day. However slick and ambitious the 2011 miniseries was, "Moby-Dick" may be too beloved (or reviled) a novel to attract new audiences to a live-action adaptation. The most recent high-profile "Moby-Dick" riff didn't even bother with the title, choosing instead to adapt the true-life story that inspired Herman Melville to write his book in the first place. It's called "In the Heart of the Sea" and was directed by Ron Howard. The film covers the events of the sinking of the whaling ship Essex in 1820 and stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Holland, Cillian Murphy, and Brendan Gleeson. It hit theaters in 2015, three years before Hemsworth and Holland appeared together in "Avengers: Infinity War."

Other recent "Moby-Dick" adaptations have swerved even further from Melville's novel than the 2011 miniseries. That same year, there was a straight-to-video fantasy film redux of the book called "Age of the Dragons," which has Danny Glover playing a one-legged Ahab character in medieval Europe who boards a great big anachronistic land tank (!) to look for a white dragon that attacked him with its fire breath. Then, in 2018, there was a sci-fi rendition of "Moby-Dick" titled "Beyond White Space," which takes place on a starship called the Essex and follows its run-in with a giant whale-like space creature. That premise recalls the "Futurama" episode "Möbius Dick," also from 2011, which saw Leela (Katey Sagal) becoming obsessed with a space-dwelling 4-D whale that lives in the Bermuda Tetrahedron.

Really, though, your best bet is to go back and read Melville's original book. You will be richly rewarded for the effort.