Dead in the Water

In Rio de Janeiro, Gloria (Dominique Swain) is an ambitious young woman, whose father (José WIlker) is bankrupted. When the son of his business partner, Marcos (Sebastian DeVicente), arrives in Rio, her father asks Gloria to have a trip with him in their boat Boa Vida. Gloria, her boyfriend Danny (Scott Bairstow) and their common friend Jeff (Henry Thomas) get Marcos in his hotel and they go to Angra dos Reis. While in the sea, they drink Caipirinha and beer, and Gloria flirts with the wealthy Marcos. The jealous Danny sees they kissing each other, throws Marcos in the water with a lifebuoy and drives the boat to a distant island to scare Marcos. However, they have a problem with the propellers and when they return to the spot, they do not find Marcos anymore. Afraid of the consequences of his possible drowning, they discuss alibis and how to resolve the situation, shattering their relationship in an environment of high-tension and selfishness.

"Dead in the Water" is an amoral tale of ambition, selfishness and greed based on three shallow characters: Gloria is an ambitious and amoral young woman, having the behavior of a slut and capable of teasing three young men looking for the best one to support her; Danny is a loser posing of executive but incapable of taking reasonable attitudes or decisions; and Jeff, who stays close to Gloria and Danny not for friendship or loyalty, but because he wants to stay with Gloria. The final twist is very ironical and suitable for this reasonable film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Tensão em Alto-Mar" ("Tension on the High Seas")

Dead in the Water is a very auspicious debut by first time director/writer Gustavo Lipsztein, a Brazilian born film-maker with a Hollywood sensibility. While the film works well as a thoroughly entertaining thriller, it also plays as a morality tale. The three American protagonists ultimately care only about one thing -- themselves. When confronted with a situation for which they are not prepared, they come unglued because they have no value system to fall back on. They are eaten alive by their own narcissism. Well-paced, well-acted, beautifully shot, this is new movie you definitely want to see and new director you definitely want to take note of.

This is not the worst film I have ever seen, but it isn't the best either. Truly the best aspect of the whole movie is the lovely Miss Swain strutting around the deck of a boat wearing an itsy-bitsy teenie-weenie pink bikini. Overall, it's a story of jealousy and paranoia taking control of a group of already out-of-control young adults.

I cannot understand all the negative comments posted here. Its not an excellent film but certainly gripping enough to make you want to see how it ends. Probably whats most challenging is sitting through the first half. I caught the film on satellite and lost its very beginning. The film had the right doses of suspense to make you wonder what's going to happen. Is it a shark in the sea or something else? Once you get through half of it its very gripping. I think the director managed to bring out the paranoia and madness which the youngsters would have instilled within themselves in a real life situation. Whether it is a feature film or MOW is somewhat questionable in my mind. I think its a damn good movie of the week (ie: for TV).

OK, so the story wasn't the best, but the soundtrack was great!! And to the deadgirls' comment...the guy was BRAZILIAN!!!Hence, them being in Brazil. Anyways, apart from everything the scenery and music were both great. Cool to watch on TV.