Calme blanc

I was most inspired to check this out knowing it was Nicole Kidman's breakthrough performance. Once you get into the movie it somehow feels like a cross between Event Horizon and, like, Titanic, but in the form of a 90's style thriller, which I suppose you have to give it a little extra credit for considering it's from 1989, so the vibe probably played a part in inspiring some of the vibe of 90's films.

Halfway through, I wasn't sure I was going to be a fan of this movie, but the last half hour hits in just the right ways to the extent that it makes the whole movie worthwhile. It's why thrillers are called thrillers - it's thrilling as hell. Up until those satisfying scenes, it just felt like an extremely formulaic experience - and Billy Zane is kind of a hard sell. Zane is, at least bizarre - as usual. His energy is always jarring but I feel like it's most jarring when it's not supposed to be, less so when it is. Kidman definitely steals the show but all three leads have strong enough presences to round the movie out well. I also enjoyed the somewhat zany music score - felt very Australian.

This is a quick, painless viewing so there's no point not to see it if you're interested in 80's/90's thrillers or curious to see where Kidman and Zane had their beginnings. Solid flick!

This great suspense, thriller will have you gripping your seat in every scene. I'm serious. It is one of those that never lets its pace slow down. The realistic plot keeps you thinking, What if that happened to me?, also its not far fetched at all, every scene is acted and directed in a very realistic way, unlike other suspense films which like to stray from reality. The excellent acting, direction and the nail-biting music score keep you tangled up in the suspense filled story, you look past it's minor flaws. It is one of those movies you don't forget. Definitely a must see. Grab onto the arm-rest of your couch before you fall overboard, it's intense. ***1/2 out of ****

I really felt in suspense throughout Dead Calm. Sam Neill as the everyman and Nicole Kidman as his recovering wife were wholly believable as grieving parents taking a vacation to move past their tragedies. Billy Zane as the disturbed third wheel (see Titanic, Head Above Water) in the relationship was also very effective in his role. The suspense builds throughout and leads to a very memorable climax. Recommended, 7/10.

Dead Calm is directed by Australian film maker Philip Noyce (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger) and he is very talented director. This film stars young Nicole Kidman (21-22 years old in this film!) as a wife to Sam Neill and they have lost their son in a horrible car accident. They want to get over it and so they go to the sea with their boat and spend several weeks there. All is going fine and they are going to get over the loss of their son, but soon they discover an abandoned looking ship in the horizon and a man (Billy Zane) paddling desperately towards them. The man reaches the ship and the couple helps him on the board. He is little confusing and suspicious and soon his real nature is revealed...

This is extremely pleasant thriller and reminds me of films written by Eric Red (The Hitcher, Near Dark, Blue Steel) and these four films are very similar. The atmosphere in Dead Calm is very haunting and incredibly restrained. The atmosphere is also very similar to David Lynch and Lost Highway and Twin Peaks. The music is very important element in Dead Calm (as is in The Hitcher and Near Dark, too) and the overall feeling is very threatening and ominous. There are many exciting and breath taking scenes such as the one in which Sam Neill is trapped in a boat that is sinking and filling with water. With music, the photography is great and there are definitely no technical flaws in this great and surprisingly effective flick.

The young Nicole Kidman is so talented and acts perfectly. No one can say she can't act. Just look at her face and expressions: she is the main character in here and she is almost in every scene and she does nothing wrong or never acts over the top. The other actor's are also great, Sam Neill and Bill Zane, even though Zane goes little too far in couple of scenes and is not too believable. But overall, because there are so many great elements here, these little flaws and illogical plot turns can be forgiven.

Philip Noyce is worth watching director and he has done also other effective thrillers, but I think this will be one of his greatest achievements. Dead Calm is highly recommended.

8/10

You've got three actors, two old boats, a big ocean, and ninety minutes to fill. So you better have your ducks in a row, otherwise the package is going to sink faster than the proverbial lead balloon. Fortunately, the folks in charge here know what to do, and the void turns into a real nail-biter. Darn near everything but the kitchen sink is thrown into the action, and I may have even seen that float by.

After a 100+ reviews, two comments might be helpful. Note that in the struggle to survive, Hughie's (Zane) main adversary is not the expected other male, John (Neill), Rae's husband. Instead, John spends his time trying to keep his head above water in that broken-down old schooner, a long way from the malevolent Hughie. No, it's up to the girl Rae (Kidman) to save the day any way she can, without the expected masculine help. Good thing, Hughie's got an eye for her "fine-boned head" and certain other features, otherwise she's a dead duck in the first five minutes. Thus, the real contest is a resourceful woman versus an unpredictable man that breaks with the long-established convention of combat "mano y mano". And this departure, I take, to be a reflection of a surging feminist movement then making its way into popular screenplays.

Another sign of the times is the anti-climax "add-on". In the old studio days, killing a guy once was usually enough. Then, after the bad guy was dispatched, the audience could relax and await a return to normalcy for the good guys. However, clever modern filmmakers found they could supply a surprise extra jolt by breaking with convention and bringing the menace back from the apparent dead. That way, the audience can never feel secure enough to relax, and suspense is kept on high right up to fade-out.

The price they pay, however, is moving from a semblance of reality into the realm of cartoon violence. Here, Rae hits Hughie with everything but a laser blast. So how does Hughie, who appears to be a mere mortal like the rest of us, survive to provide that extra jolt. As you might guess, only by departing from reality as the rest of us know it. Thus, the structure of the screenplay migrates from "what could happen" into "what happens only in the movies". And, for me, at least, I'm reminded that this is, after all, only make-believe. Nonetheless, the movie really does accomplish a whole lot with a surprisingly very little.