I have sentimental love for the filmmakers at the Walt Disney
Company—Enchanted, everything Pixar, “I use antlers in all
of my dec-o-raaaating!”—but rigorous documentarians they are not.
Morning Light, a dumb vanity project from aging sailboat
enthusiast Roy Disney, is a bland bundle of innocuously fabricated
truth: Roy Disney buys fancy sailboat. Roy Disney recruits attractive
Young People™ to pilot said boat. Young People™ recite
scripted monologues about sailing over pretty sailing montages.
Sailboat enters famous sailboat race. After much Togetherness™
and Lesson-Learning-At-Sea™, Young People™ almost win.
Young People™’s lives will never be the same.
Your life, on the other hand, will be exactly the same whether you
see Morning Light or not.
Even with the prefab setup, it could have been an interesting little
something, had the filmmakers just kept the cameras rolling and filmed
the words and movements of their subjects—i.e., made an actual
documentary. Instead, it’s just a bunch of nothing: dolphins,
shooting stars (fake!), and infinite iterations of “It’s really about
the journey.”
There are a few genuine moments in Morning Light, and they
stick out like, um, some sort of bright and shiny sailboating analogy.
Just watching people do their jobs efficiently—pull this rope,
turn that crank, shinny up the mast—is incredibly satisfying.
And, far too rarely, a candid comment from one of the kids makes it
through, either funny (“Nothing’s this far from land—this is just
stupid”) or revealing, like the tacitly accepted boys’ club attitude
directed at Morning Light‘s sole female crewmember: “You’re
drunk on estrogen.” “You need to use your big-girl voice.” Ouch. Now,
yucky gender politics among attractive nautical Young
People™—that might be worth making a movie about.
Oh… no? Just a chuckle and a wink and then we return to our regularly
scheduled inspirational pap? Whatever you say, Roy Disney. 
Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. I saw the filmumentary last night, and disagree with the “fabricated truth” line you used. You may have never been on a sailboat of this type, which explains your resistance to just watching, instead of experiencing, the goings-on. Roy D actually makes a hard to get sport accessible to the masses. Yes, a little CG on the water shots and starry sky (distracting) but still the straight truth about life at sea, racing for 11 days. Maybe your inner athlete is yearning? JUST DO IT!!
I use antlers in all of my decorating, too.
Lindy’s other sailboat is a womyn.
I saw the movie Friday night and thoroughly enjoyed it, although being a sailing enthusiast helps.
The formation of the team, and the race itself were incredable. Thank you Mr. Disney for making this film.
Typical review from the Stranger. If it’s not alternative it must be boring. This movie may not have a broad audience , but I don’t think that Roy Disney would spend millions of dollars that he knew he would not get back purely in vain.
BTW. I dont recall ever sailing in southern cali on a day that I didnt see dolphins.. pretty normal to see. I think that you wish it was staged.
You should go sailing, you may see why Roy Disney wanted to share the experience on the big screen.