Longitude (2000)

By Peter McGinn

I had known about this 3-hour long, two part made-for-tv movie for a long time, but it took me a while to get around to watching it. It is very well done, so that even though the dual plots move slowly and with a lot of detail, it kept my interest throughout. It is hard to believe what John Harrison went through all those years working on his clock to be used by sailors to help them know where they are even on the open sea. If Harrison had worked for decades in the hard sciences during a later era, I dare say he would have received a Nobel prize, for it seemed the monetary prize he was seeking from the hopelessly bureaucratic award committee gave him a rougher time than the Nobel committee and fellow scientists ever would have. In the other story thread that took place many years later, the Jeremy Irons character was on a similar Quixotic epic quest, and his marriage suffers even more. I found his plot slightly less interesting, if only because it seemed like the damage to his personal life was more self-inflicted, like perhaps he wouldn't have been a great husband in the best of times. One minor critique I have is that the stories could have paid more attention to the wives. We more or less lose sight of them after we are deep into the story, though they both make guest appearances here and there. I can't say I will be tempted to watch Longitude again in the future, but the writing and acting is strong enough for me to recommend it.