The Water Man

In this film the story develops a reflection on how we see death and what we think when we know that someone important to us is going to die.

With a pretty good script, it manages to tell us the story in a subtle way, with an unexpected outcome, it manages to expose the message of taking advantage of the time we have to be with the people we love. It has good acting, good visuals, good photography, and good character development. Although the way the story is told may seem a bit slow, it works to understand what each of the characters feel without falling into cheap sentimentality.

With some situations that happen at the precise moment, the film has a good balance between comedy, drama and fantasy, this film is worth seeing.

It's a new family movie on Netflix; the plot is decent and the performances are passable; David Oyelowo has a lot of potential as a new film director.

In the small town of Pine Mills, Oregon, there is a local legend about a mysterious figure called The Water Man. Gunner Boone is obsessed with death and draws his comic book. His father Amos (David Oyelowo) is often absent and is struggling to reconnect with Gunner. His mom Mary (Rosario Dawson) is sick and his parents are trying to keep it from him. Jim Bussey (Alfred Molina) tells him about The Water Man who may have discovered immortality. He goes searching with help from blue-haired girl Jo who tells stories to little kids for money.

This is David Oyelowo trying his hand at directing. It's fine. It's not anything special but I'm not going to trash it either. It reminds me of Forest Whitaker who also dabbles in directing. There is always the possibility of improvement and I look forward to it. I find this film a little flat. The action scenes need some more kinetic energy. The climax is a little bit anti-climatic. The story is relatively straight forward with the gentlest of twists and turns. All in all, this is professional work for Oyelowo's first effort.

Though it's a little murky towards the end, The Water Man tackles a hard subject (death) from a young man's perspective. On a quest for hope and a cure for his mom, he searches out the truth of The Water Man legend.

Our society has become so negative. Just read a few of the reviews that knock this movie, many of them don't actually say anything they just want to prevent others from seeing it. Why? That is so non-productive.

It is a simple story but focuses on a mythical figure, a man who apparently survived a devastating flood, and it is believed a mineral he found in a mine allows him to live forever. They call him the Water Man. The boy hopes that if he finds him then he can help cure his sick mom. So he, and a new friend, a teenage girl, trek off into the Oregon wilderness to find the Water Man.

My wife and I enjoyed it at home on DVD from our public library. While it won't ever be considered a "don't miss" movie it certainly has enough good qualities that it is entertaining.