Dead in the Water

This film is so bad, on so many different levels. I do not even know where to begin. Oh! I know! I will start off with a warning. Do Not Watch This Film, unless it is like for me, 3:AM and you're unable to sleep.

The acting is not even B movie caliber. But even Olivier would have a hard time squeezing anything good from this insipid script. It really is that bad. I found it impossible to care about any of the characters. The music is painful is as the dialog, if not more so. Plot? Threadbare. Cinematography was sub-par at best. All-in-all a truly dire film.

My advice, skip this film and watch an infomercial instead.

I saw this movie recently and although it is not a great movie, I just couldn't change the channel. Dominique's acting is really good, the guys are less than convincing but the movie still managed to keep my attention for an hour and something. The plot is not common, I mean how often do you find a movie were the characters are scared of themselves and of all the rest?, and the conflict is actually very intriguing, it really got me thinking what would I do in such a situation. It is not one of those movies easy to watch, and perhaps many people won't like it but I found it very interesting. To one of the comments that said that the "Mexican" guy wasn't good looking I would like to say two things: a) He was Brazilian. Brazilian, not Mexican. It is pretty different. and b)handsome guys do not make a movie interesting or worth watching. If you want to see a different movie, that might not be very normal you should watch this one.

This was a film that I sought out due to be a remake of Knife in the Water by Roman Polanski. What we're getting here is an updated version. I picked this up on DVD years ago and just now getting around to watching it. Ahead of coming in to watch this, I knew that Dominique Swain starred. The opening credits reminded me that Henry Thomas also starred. It wasn't until settling in that it also had Scott Bairstow. I didn't know him by name but recognized his face.

What we get here is Gloria (Swain) is asked by her father to take his business partners' son out on the yacht. This is Marcos (Sebastian DeVicente). He has never seen the ocean. She doesn't want to do this, but her father explains their financial situation and reluctantly agrees. I don't believe she told him that she isn't using the captain. She will drive the boat. Her boyfriend, Danny (Bairstow), and friend of Jeff (Thomas) are joining.

They go out and have a good time, until things take a turn. Danny is a jerk. Gloria is attracted to Marcos and they make out when the guys are gone. They come back though in the middle, where she blames him for coming on to her. Danny knocks him overboard and tosses out a lifesaver. He then drives off, leaving Marcos in the water. This is troubling due to him not being a strong swimmer.

The group takes the boat around the island and that's when panic sets in. They can't seem to find where they left him. They continue the search but as time goes on, it looks bleaker. Decisions are then made as to what to do.

Now that should recap what this version of the story gives. Something interesting here is that instead of a couple with a stranger on a boat. We have a larger sea vessel and adding the wrinkle that Jeff is in love with Gloria, who has friend zoned him. Jeff is friends with Danny and something I'll say here, I've been the former in a situation like this. Jeff is in an interesting position that he wants to help his friend, but also will steal his girl at the first chance that he gets. I did like this aspect.

What then makes this an interesting story as well is that we're seeing the worst of humanity come out when it comes to self-preservation. We learn things here as we go on about the characters. Gloria and her plight are introduced from the opening sequence. She doesn't rely on the others until Marcos disappears. Through conversations between Danny and Jeff, the former messed up at his previous job in Hong Kong and struggled to find another business to give him a chance. Jeff put his neck out for him, but it is a step down in what he'd be doing. Jeff also uses this against him as tensions rise. They are trying to find a way where they can wash their hands of what happened without punishment. This then becomes an 'out of the frying pan, into the fire' situation as the longer they go, the worse the situation becomes.

The execution though isn't necessarily there unfortunately. Swain looks good and she's in a bikini so that is tempting. Thomas is a good actor, but he's limited here to just being brooding. Bairstow has a good look about him. The same for DeVicente. The acting is serviceable, I'll say that. I also think they do well with filmmaking. They don't do anything that necessarily stands out. I did like seeing this group descend into madness trying to figure out what to do. It does help with the atmosphere. This shoots for the fences and does come up short. Not horrible by any stretch though.

My Rating: 5 out of 10.

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).

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.