Le plongeon

I didn't think the lead actress had enough depth and gravitas to carry off the part of the main character, who while eliciting some empathy is far from sympathetic- She seemed very remote and vacant. Although I can't tell how much of the fault with this character lies with the script. The Kilroy character seemed to be an overgrown, immature, poseur and I could not see how any woman would find this attractive. The character of Mike kept apologizing to Carrie but I'm not sure what for. He seemed to be quite the forgiving guy. And even if he wasn't a quadriplegic, he still came across as the most mature and sympathetic amongst this love triangle. I did not read the book and after viewing this movie I wouldn't want to. I have to disagree with another reviewer's opinion that "the cast, without exception, was one-dimensional and juvenile" and that the movie "seemed like a teenybopper soap opera". I thought with the exception of Carrie and Kilroy, the casting was fairly good. The cast of young twenty-something's did not look like your typical O.C. or One Tree Hill gang and the acting chops were certainly a cut above your typical soap opera characters. The casting was probably the only good thing about the movie. And I didn't see this as a typical teenybopper soap opera, just your typical disappointing Wifetime -movie of the week.

I didn't read the book, didn't even know there was 1 till I got on here, sorry. Just got the movie for Will, he did a good job in fact I just fast forward through the whole movie just to see his scenes. Other than that the film isn't worth it. Michelle is just to fake and she kisses weird in this movie. They said that Will actually tried to study how to be paralyzed for the movie. Thanks to the other views I actually found out if they get back together or not cause the movie ends terribly, and you don't know for sure if they do or not just watching the movie. I didn't even realize it was a Lifetime movie, I don't care for Lifetime or Hallmark, they're all basically the same movie different characters/settings.

I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on whether the adaption was good or bad. The Dive from Clausen's Pier was in my opinion a good movie on the whole. It's not normally my kind of movie, I watched it mostly because of Michelle Trachtenberg. The story is about how an accident changes the lives of a group of people, and especially Mike Mayor (Will Estes) and his girlfriend Carrie Beal (Michelle Trachtenberg). It was in my opinion a bit too short, and I wish some characters could have been explored and developed more. Other than that, it was good.

I was pleased to see Trachtenberg in this movie, and from all her film and TV works, I consider this to be one of her best performances, possibly to share the first spot with Mysterious Skin. She's not just a beautiful face, she's a talented actress and I believe that with time she will grow and develop even more.

I read the novel "The Dive from Clausen's Pier" and found it to be heart-wrenching and a great look into the mind of a torn young woman. The Lifetime movie just chopped it up, altered it horribly and left me appalled. If you have not read the book and watch the movie, fine. But if you've read the book....I recommend not watching the movie. If you must though, be warned. There was so much richness in the book and important moments and character development that the movie skips over and alters. Originally the character was named Carrie Bell in the book and the movie changes her to Carrie Beal...not a huge deal, but that is the gateway for all the changes in the plot. I understand films adapt books into the given time slots, but this movie wasn't adapted but more of chopped up and shoved into a formulaic display of scenes that do not capture half of the emotional journey Carrie undergoes. The most difficult part of the movie was the rapid progression of time that is never explained or detailed well. Carrie seems to always be wearing the same clothes so distinguishing the passage of time and seasons is difficult. If you must watch this movie...supplement the choppy pace and lack of depth with reading the novel.

'The Dive From Clausen's Pier' is the story of Carrie, a young woman who takes off to New York after her fiancé, Mike Mayor, is paralyzed in a diving accident. Although, the accident isn't the real reason she leaves. Even before the accident, her feelings for Mike were slipping. She does what she feels she has to, to find happiness. – The story itself is less than appealing to me, so this obviously isn't my type of movie. But in spite of that, I still managed to enjoy it.

Trachtenberg (Carrie) puts on a surprisingly good performance. Coming into the movie I was honestly expecting her to be the weakest link. On top of her less than stellar performance in EuroTrip, she was also the worst character ever conceived on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But she managed to pull off a wonderful performance, particularly at the beginning of the movie. Will Estes (Mike Mayor) also put on a great performance; they played off of each other really well. In my opinion, Will and Michelle had a lot more chemistry than Michelle and Sean (who plays Killroy). That's where the movie starts slipping a bit, Carrie's relationship with Killroy is a bit unrealistic, not to mention lame. The entire "Killroy hiding something from Carrie" arc was pretty annoying. It's just, after the first 30 minutes, the rest of the movie falls flat for me. I enjoy stories where people are forced to deal with things, not run away from them. Which is why I enjoyed the ending too, but it didn't seem as poignant as it should be. The monologue at the end, which was supposed to be a beautiful sentiment, was actually lame to no end.

Even so, the movie wasn't nearly as horrible as I thought it was going to be. It's above average in terms of TV movies, but that really isn't saying much.

4.5