Editorial Reviews:
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Morning Light concerns the 2006 TRANSPAC, an annual, open-ocean race between sailing sloops crossing the Pacific Ocean from California to Hawaii. The film focuses on the team manning the Morning Light, 15 young men and women who undergo intensive training over months and then are left to their own devices racing against sailors far more experienced than themselves. Morning Light is divided between a competition section that resembles a broken-hearts-and-all MTV reality show (with a total of 20 people vying for the 15 spots) and the race itself. Neither is particularly fascinating: the former just feels like an extension of television, while the racing action is dominated by technical speak and visuals that will largely appeal to viewers who have spent a lot of time on boats. The rest of us end up sitting through large patches of documentary footage that don't provide a clear understanding of what's going on or what any of it really means to the individuals involved. Morning Light did not have to look and move like cable sports channel fodder. The film could have more closely resembled, say, a Warren Miller winter sports documentary, which is almost guaranteed to appeal to non-sportsmen. As it is, a viewer feels like a fifth wheel (or the sailing equivalent). --Tom Keogh
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