À Toda Prova

I purchased this movie in a clearance sale.....I didn't expect much. However, I was caught by surprise. This movie is quite captivating. It is also filled with quirky characters that captured me. I wanted to be there. It was much, much better than I expected. My only regret is that the copy I purchased wasn't better quality. I think this movie is a keeper. And Burt Reynold's humble contribution to it was a surprise. I DO wonder how he was connected to this movie. It didn't seem like something he would be involved in, and his character truly didn't belong in the environment, he was immersed in, and yet, he made it real, for that very reason. I thought his part was seemingly subdued, but quietly important. Oh, and I loved the soundtrack! My family and I really enjoyed this movie. You need to listen closely......The dialogue between "Sugar" and "BurtR." was notably funny!

This moving and beautiful drama wasn't released on theaters in 1999, and that's a shame. Few people will have the grateful surprise to discover this sensible masterpiece, but if you have a chance and run into Waterproof in a videostore, give it a try.This is a sensible and touching independent film and Burt Reynolds has in it maybe the best performance of his career. Although Boogie Nights remains as a landmark for his career, Waterproof is a film in which he delivered his best performance so far. Reynolds plays Eli Zeal, an angry old Jewish guy who owns a little grocery store. When a ten year old boy shoots him, the mother of the kid puts Eli and the kid inside a cab and takes them to her home town, Waterproof. The lady is scared of the police, so she convinces Eli that she will treat him in her parent's house. Eli ends up getting involved with the story of this family, and he learns more about those people - this young woman ran away from her home due to a secret. She has two brothers, an alcoholic one and a mentally ill. She just wants to get on with her life and forgive herself for the mistakes she made, but in order to do that she must face the past and tell the truth, and Eli tries to convince her to trust her parents and family and leave all the secrets behind. At the same time, Eli, who was a loner since his wife and kid died, discovers how love and friendship, two things he though he had lost a long time ago, may give everyone a better beginning. The movie starts a little bit slow,the first half of the film requires patience and attention, but soon Waterproof develops itself into a climatic rollercoaster ride of emotions.This is basically a story of second chances, of the discovery of love, of how in a certain point of our lives we have to look back and see what we have been doing, and if we want to change. Waterproof shows us how to find this courage to change. Watch this film, it's a shame the fact that it's unknown, because it is the best film of 1999.Burt Reynolds must be proud to have such a classy, terrific masterpiece in his filmography. An excellent actor, Reynolds' best widely known parts were in Deliverance and Boogie Nights, but Waterproof is a kind of a challenge to him.Here you won't find the macho man of Deliverance, nor the cynic porn director of Boogie Nights. Here Reynolds gives a kind, tearful interpretation, of a man who is in need of care and love.

A white shop owner from DC (Reynolds) is injured and whisked away by a black cab driver (April Grace) to her family's modest home in the Deep South where he stays longer than expected.

Shot in October-November, 1997, "Waterproof" was not released until 2000-2001, but it's a well-done Southern Gothic that respects the intelligence of the viewer. Hours after watching I was able to connect-the-dots and it elicited a 'Wow' reaction.

This is easily one of Burt's best roles, but you have to be in the mood for a drama. I don't want to say much more because it's best for you to discover for yourself, but the movie's warm, sobering and revelational. Moreover, it contains one of the best church sequences in cinematic history.

If you liked Robert Duvall's "The Apostle" (1997), you'll appreciate this.

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Tensas Parish in northeast Louisiana with other stuff done in Wilmington, North Carolina.

GRADE: A-/B+

Picked up for distribution in 2001, "Waterproof" is Cloud Ten Pictures' finest achievement in its library. It should have garnered a limited, or even a platform, release because of superb acting by all, the finest elements of cinematography I have ever seen, great direction my Barry Berman, and a move shot in the real location of Waterproof, Louisiana. Along with a gospel message, fine score, and beautiful songs of Southern Gospel, "Waterproof" is a movie experience that will be greatly received by all who see it. **** out of **** (Even this is far better than Cloud Ten's "Left Behind" series)

I highly recommend "Waterproof" as a dramatic movie with a lot of good laughs.

Burt Reynolds is Eli, an aging, limping Jewish shopkeeper in D.C. when he is suddenly robbed at gunpoint by a ten-year-old boy and two thugs who put him up to it. The gun goes off and Eli is injured. By coincidence, the young boy's mother is driving by in her cab, she sees her son and begins a cleanup effort. She basically kidnaps Eli and takes everyone down to Louisiana to her hometown which she hasn't visited since she was a teenager.

The kidnapping takes a very unique twist as Eli finds some comforts living with the mother's mother, brothers and grandfather. The grandfather, played by Whitman Mayo ("Grady" from Sanford & Son), is a scene-stealer every time he is on the screen. He concocts a remedy for Eli's gunwound made of spider legs, he says. That plus Eli has to watch nine consecutive sunrises and he'll be all healed up.

This is a beautiful tale wonderfully told. No special camera angles, very little violence, just people dealing with people. I agree with the other people posting that the Christian message is a little heavy-handed, but the rest of the story is a welcome break from the usual Hollywood style.

I rate this movie 10 out of 10. It is at once serious and funny. No matter what mood you're in, you'll probably like it, as long as you can get past the "go to church and that will make you a good person" stuff.