Accounts by the ship's cabin boy as well as by the first mate add to the immediacy of the adventure. (booklistonline.com)
Told from the retrospective viewpoint of cabin boy Thomas Nickerson (Brendan Gleeson), as Herman Melville endeavours to collect information for his novel, Nickerson recounts the true story behind the whale ship Essex's battle for survival. (impulsegamer.com)
In the film, actor Brendan Gleeson portrays cabin boy Thomas Nickerson (played at a younger age by Tom Holland), who when he is older tells the story of the ship to Herman Melville («Skyfall» actor Ben Whishaw), who wrote a book about a whale you might have heard of. (csmonitor.com)