I know Rupert Murray’s The End of the Line means well – I could hardly accuse the film of pandering on a renowned topic – it doesn’t. The End of the Line focuses on the growing problem of over-fishing, the ecological damage wrought by the practice, and the far reaching effects of a natural resource once deemed permanently inexhaustible – the ocean. The End of the Line is based on the book of the same name by Charles Clover, and his investigation forms the crux of a series of interviews that stretches to global proportions. Director Murray and narrator Ted Danson (most recently a regular on FX’s Damages) probe into the harrowing consequences of this practice – one that shows no signs on stopping.
Like I said, The End of the Line earns its stripes – it’s a well-meaning documentary, crafted with a steady and skillful hand. Rupert Murray, who also lensed the film, has an eye for effective imagery and he fills the screen with gorgeous pallettes of ocean life. There is rarely a moment in the film that lacks for color or vibrancy, but the consummately polished cinematography does not take away from the urgency of the images on screen. This is where The End of the Line loses points – Murray, along with editor Claire Ferguson, lets loose gratuitous montages of fish being collectively caught and slaughtered, intercut with the faces and sounds of working fisherman. This is not nearly as stomach churning as Murray likely wants it to be and when backed up with a pompously funereal score, induces its share of sighs.
These montages pop up from time to time throughout the film, detracting from the merit it earns by laying out the argument for curbing over-fishing with a relative simplicity. To summarize, the technology we have developed to essentially (and literally) rake the ocean for wildlife has permanently decimated several populations of fish thought to be limitless. This in turn has slowly but surely began a chain reaction in the ecosystem. One fish diminishes, another increases, and so on. The problem is, we don’t know how these changes will further affect the environment, if they are entirely reversible, or how to tell tens of thousands of often working-class people, many of whom come from a long line of fisherman, to keep their boats in port and put a cap on their livelihood.
The End of the Line works best when it does not shy away from the cold hard facts – delivered by straight-laced scientists and environmental conservationists who seem genuinely invested in seeing a significant dent in fishing overages in their lifetimes. When Murray strays into hyperbolical montage, the film falters and loses credibility, feeling self-important and worst of all, manipulative. This is a documentary with its heart in the right place and despite coming on too strong from time to time, well worth a watch. You may look at the infinite magnitude of our oceans in a new way. Every resource is, in the end, finite, and The End of the Line signals a possible catastrophe brewing deep under the surface (pun intended).
DVD Bonus Features
Labeled quite dubiously as a “Deluxe Edition,” the special features are about what you’d expect – bits and pieces of information for those wanting to know more (though the documentary gives you plenty of facts to juggle in your head). Included is a handy-dandy wallet insert explaining how to make better seafood related choices, telling you which fish to focus on and which to avoid. The major inclusion is a series of webisodes, running 55 minutes (the DVD helpfully includes the running length of the videos next to them). The webisodes briefly expand on some of the facts dropped in the feature and together form a pretty compelling addition to the film. Also included is a one-minute message from narrator Ted Danson, a 13-minute piece on the Coral Triangle, considered to be one of the most extraordinary habitats of sealife on the planet, a filmmaker bio, and a series of trailers for this film as well as other Docurama Films releases.
"The End of the Line" is on sale February 23, 2010 and is rated NR. Documentary. Directed by Rupert Murray. Starring Ted Danson.
