The Drowning

RELEASED IN 2016 and directed by Bette Gordon, "The Drowning" focuses on a child psychologist (Josh Charles) whose life is disrupted by the release of a young man from reformatory (Avan Jogia). The doctor's analysis helped confine the kid a dozen years earlier and now the youth seems to show up everywhere and it's irritating; worse, his wife seems smitten with him (Julia Stiles). John C. McGinley plays the lawyer who prosecuted the kid while Robert Clohessy appears as the aloof, irate father.

This is a melancholy psychological drama with crime thriller elements. The focus is on the drama and the remorseful reflections thereof. All aspects of filmmaking are top-notch, including the convincing acting and well-scripted dialogues. The story's unpredictable: Just when you think something's going to happen, it doesn't (and vice versa). Some people refer to the unexpected climax as a "twist," but it's really more of a desperate solution.

The problem viewers have with this movie (besides the lack of thrills and explosions) is that not everything's spelled out; you have to read in between the lines. It's a study on the nature of good and evil within the context of human nature. Can a person be "evil" as a kid? If so, can he be reformed? Can a "good" therapist have elements of evil in his psyche? Did he have to deal with the same evil when he was a kid? What's the secret of overcoming it? The movie even throws in the enigmatic female attraction to "bad boys."

My title blurb reveals that there are similarities to "Good Will Hunting" (1997), but I'd watch this one over that overrated flick any day. Yet the script needed fine-tuned to drive home the movie's points. As it is, they're elusive; and this frustrates some viewers. But post-reflection reveals a lot.

THE FILM RUNS 95 minutes and was shot on the coast of Connecticut (New London, I'm guessing), as well as New York City. WRITER: Stephen Molton & Frank Pugliese wrote the screenplay based on Pat Barker's novel.

GRADE: B-/C+

I am baffled by the volume of one star reviews, and such a low score, I could list a number of one star movies, this is no way near being in that group, it's not Oscar winning, but it's a decent enough watch. The premise is really clever, when you save someone's life you don't know what past they have, or what kind of future ahead of them. The movie manages to have you asking questions, was Danny guilty, did Danny consciously jump into the water knowing that Tom was there. It may be a little ambiguous for some viewers, but then life isn't always black and white. Pretty good performances, Josh Charles and Avan Jogia were both watchable, Julia Styles I thought was a little wooden, maybe the part wasn't great. I disagree with those that say the material was old fashioned, I would have said the content was quite relevant in today's age. I'll admit it was a little frustrating to watch at times, and some of it, like Danny's father's involvement, made little sense.

It wasn't that bad. 6/10

Either this movie sucks, or I didn't understand one bit of it.

I kept waiting for something to happen... Some event that would clear things up... but it never came.

The characters weren't particularly likable and their true motivations were never revealed.

somehow i'm still thinking I might have missed something. they couldn't just have pasted together a story with random people doing insignificant things, right?

wrong?

This movie is better than the low star reviews. There's little action and motivations are not immediately clear, but by the end they become perfectly clear.

We're all capable of evil, of being manipulated. And we're also capable of doing evil to protect ourselves, our egos, andour families.

The evil in some is just more evident. Oh and when you contrive to manipulate and hurt others, you may finally meet your match.

This movie is all about wannabe and turns out not to be about much of anything. I'm a big fan of both Josh Charles and Julia Stiles, and can't believe what ended up on film is what they signed up,for. Stiles is completely wasted in this part. The plot is as nonsensical as the ending. Do not waste your time.