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Back Shelf Beauties
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Open Water I love a huge, grandiose Hollywood blockbuster, but a quiet, independent, made-on-the-cheap movie hits the right spot when done well. If you're looking for the summer's biggest surprise, head to the Cineplex for Open Water. Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis star as Susan and Daniel - a couple on a last minute vacation. They decide to go scuba diving in the tropics, even though Susan is more of a workaholic than adventurer. As they admire the fish and coral reefs, their boat and fellow scuba divers head back to shore, accidentally leaving Susan and Daniel behind. Miles from land, the two must fight off jelly fish, dehydration, cold temperatures, storms and SHARKS! Will Susan and Daniel be able to survive in the middle of the ocean? I am never going in the water again! Open Water is one of the scariest movies of the year, but it's not bloody, doesn't have a big Shyamalan-like twist, and refuses to incorporate computer graphics to enhance the action. It's one of those great movies that makes everyone in the audience ask themselves, what would I do in this situation? It sucks us in and makes us feel for Daniel and Susan. While the acting performances from Ryan and Travis feel stiff and forced, the natural tension of the situation makes up for it. Writer/director Chris Kentis, along with producer Laura Lau (they are a husband and wife team) are able to take us into the water and allow us to see the vast isolation felt by Susan and Daniel. However, while isolated, we are made fully aware of the dangers around them. Below the surface, an entire world threatens our heroes, and Kentis is able to put it right our faces, even providing the shark's eye viewpoint, which shows us Daniel and Susan's vulnerability (and its really cool!). Kentis and Lau also have a few other tricks up their sleeves to play with our emotions. They periodically put the time of day on the screen, so we can understand how long Daniel and Susan have been the water, have sharks popping up at shocking moments, show us the strain the two are going through, how they react, and throw in some humor every once in a while to get us softened up for the next big surprise. We see the two having a typical lover's quarrel in the middle of the ocean as if they were fighting in the kitchen, which shows us their fear, anger and love, while Lau and Kentis film one of the most unforgettable scenes of the summer when we see Susan and Daniel floating in the ocean, in the dead of night, in the midst of a horrible storm, only able to see when lightning strikes. We are totally immersed in their peril, and this scene tops it off. Ultimately, Open Water is a scary movie because the sharks are real. Lau and Kentis filmed the movie on weekends and holidays in the Bahamas, an area where a docile breed of sharks often interact with swimmers as if they were squirrels. Divers feed the sharks, and the beasts have a strong comfort level with us people, often ignoring humans in the water according to Lau (that's what I would tell my actors too!), so the crew would throw chum around Ryan and Travis to attract sharks and start filming the scenes, with Kentis often jumping into the water with his camera to get the shots. Open Water is full of perfect summer chills and thrills. Based on a true story (true in the sense that something like this has happened to people in the past), it opens in select theaters August 6, with a nation-wide opening on August 20. See it if you can. 3 ½ Waffles (out of 4) Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
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