Lionheart: The Jesse Martin Story

I had never heard of Jesse Martin, so when I saw the cover I was looking forward to hearing of an incredible feat. Unfortunately, about 15 minutes in I realized all I was going to get was a lot of people talking about how great it was that he did whatever he did, some shots of a rock concert (still don't know what that had to do with it), and home video from the boat, which might have been interesting if it had been accompanied by some sort of narration (and if it were about something better than how he washed his hair). I think I'll look up the story on the internet, because there is no way I can stay awake for the whole video.

We just watched this on satellite and were absorbed with this remarkable tale. Australian Jesse Martin sets out at the age of 17 to become the youngest person to sail around the world unassisted. This short documentary features actual video taken by Jesse as well as interviews spliced in at appropriate times to draw the story together. Jesse showed uncommon poise and wisdom in tackling this journey, but it was not a cake-walk. Jesse had email and a satellite phone to keep in contact. Imagine what it was like when he lost power and communications for three days. There are moments of great beauty (dolphins, whales, Cape Horn, etc.), tedium (no wind), and humor (Jesse playing the guitar and singing, sounding a lot like Tim Robbins in "Bull Durham"). There are plenty of moments that show the power of the ocean and the challenge of sailing around the world alone in a small boat. There is also a gut-wrenching scene when he was being battered severely by storms, enduring several knock-downs, becoming completely soaked, cold and shivering uncontrollably. It was clear that Jesse knew he was facing death and he has a complete break-down caught by the camera on the boat. It is an unforgettable moment. It made his triumphal return to Australia, greeted by 25,000 people, all the sweeter.

This is a very inspirational story. Highly recommended.

For those who don't know who this young man is, I'll remind you. He is the youngest person to circumnavigate (sail) the world, without any stops and without any help. Though what many Australian year 12 HSC students know is the book "lionheart", is required reading for the HSC English paper.

After reading the book, my opinion of this man changed. From being an inspiring young human being, to an over confident, cocky and somewhat selfish person. But none the less, inspiring human being. This documentary, confirmed my beliefs.

Lionheart is put together by parts of Jessie's video camera footage and interviews from himself, his mum, corporate sponsors and the incomprehensible Peter Garret (I don't know what he even had to do with Jessie's adventure). The editing between the two was consistent throughout the documentary and shows the audience the struggle and determination Jessie had throughout his journey.

"Lionheart" starts off with Jessie making an entry into his camera during a vicious storm, with only audio shown. This immediately grabbed my attention. But it quickly faded away. As it just became boring and dull to watch without showing anything I didn't already know about Jessie or how to make a documentary.

Like most documentary we see, you have to have at least have an interest into the subject matter or you just won't really watch it or care what's going on. Someone interested in sailing or this story might idolize the story of Lionheart, but unfortunately, not me.

All in all, if your interested in this amazing story, this documentary is a great starting point for the book. But if your not, don't bother with is documentary. However, if your a HSC student or soon to be one, it only lasts 90 minutes (so it's not all bad) 5/10