A new film about courage and survival, Not Without Hope, brings a true American story back into the light, with Zachary Levi portraying Nick Schuyler and veteran director Joe Carnahan at the helm. The movie adapts Schuyler’s own account and the bestselling book that documented the harrowing 2009 Gulf of Mexico boating disaster and the endurance it demanded.
The real incident was brutal and simple: a small boat capsized off the Florida coast and three young men, including NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith, were lost to the sea while Nick Schuyler clung to the overturned hull until rescue. That raw, heartbreaking truth is what gives the film its weight and what should make every American grateful for the bravery of first responders and the fragility of life.
On Megyn Kelly’s show, Zachary Levi spoke plainly about how meeting Nick Schuyler helped him step into the role and honor the memory of the men who didn’t make it. Levi’s conversation wasn’t show-business fluff — it was about human connection, responsibility, and the hard lessons of a night no one who lived it will ever forget.
What matters politically is that this is the kind of story Hollywood so rarely makes anymore: quiet, moral, and focused on personal courage rather than political grandstanding. Levi has not been shy about his own convictions, and his willingness to speak publicly about politics and faith in a town that demands conformity only adds credibility to his choice to tell Schuyler’s story.
Levi also warned about the future of filmmaking on Megyn’s program, arguing that corporate streaming consolidation risks squeezing out the kinds of mid-budget, character-driven pictures that teach resilience and responsibility. Conservatives should pay attention: cultural power shifts when a few mega-platforms dictate what millions see, and that matters more than just box office numbers.
Watching Not Without Hope is a reminder that American strength still lives in ordinary virtues — loyalty to friends, grit under pressure, and faith when the world goes dark. If the left-leaning cultural gatekeepers won’t make these films, then patriotic audiences must support the storytellers who will, with their wallets and their voices.
Go see this movie not because Hollywood told you to, but because real sacrifice was made and real lessons were learned; standing with Nick Schuyler, Zachary Levi, and the rescuers who reached him is the kind of quiet patriotism that builds a nation, not tears it down.
