Call me Ishmael. These are the opening words to Herman Melville's celebrated classic Moby-Dick. It's a story narrated by Ishmael of the adventures aboard a whaling ship helmed by Captain Ahab, who is seeking revenge on a white whale that had gotten the better of him on a previous trip.

Director Ron Howard's latest film is a sideways take on this fishy tale, as it comes from Melville himself, in search of material for his next novel.

It's 1850 and writer Melville Herman (Ben Wishaw) has travelled some distance to Nantucket Island to meet up with one man Tom Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson). Herman is keen to hear Nickerson's account of his travels as a young man (played by Tom Holland), aboard the whaling ship The Essex.

Although initially reluctant, his wife (Michelle Fairley) insists that the amount of three months lodgings for one night's conversation, was just too much to turn down.

And so Nickerson recalls his time aboard The Essex, under the command of the inexperienced Captain Pollard (Benjamin Walker) and his knowledgeable First Mate Owen Chase (Chris Hemsworth). It's an incredible story that finds the crew pitted against a giant white whale that refuses to come quietly and instead decides to put up an unusually impressive fight.

You can see the appeal that Howard must of had with this material. Not only does it tie in with a classic piece of American literature, it also gives him the opportunity to set sail for pulsating adventures on the high seas. And for the most part, he does a swell job, as you would expect from such an accomplished director. Performances are strong from all the leads, and the watery visual effects are competently believable.

And yet the sum of its parts don't quite add up. The reason being possibly that many of its themes splash around in familiar waters: you have the clash of opposing egos; man taking on nature; and just a drop of Jaws. It's a story well told, but one that we've seen in various guises once or twice before.

This lack of originality not only gives you a sense of déjà vu, but sadly means that many of the set pieces wash over you like a gentle sea spray and not the intended crashing wave.

It's story is well told but it's just not original enough to enthral.

Maybe it was a case of Howard not quite having the sea legs for this tale, but this effort has to go down as a bit of a damp squib on an otherwise impressive record in directing.