12 August 2004

Review: Open Water (3/5)

ticket stub

I spent much of the exposition of this movie waiting for the event to happen. That waiting was a little distracting, as was the poor sound quality, but both were manageable as you got lost in the flow of the story and responded to the two protagonists. It was those two actors that kept my attention.

The exposition, loaded with missed opportunities to escape what you know is going to go wrong, too obvious to be interesting, also unassumingly presented these two goofy, average, likeable people. Once the first scenes passed, maybe a little amateurish, you were comfortable with the characters. They were identifiable and terrifyingly so as the movie progressed.

By the time we get to the uneasy drama and then the terrifying drama, it could be you out there and you're just grimly pushed back in your nice-dry-seat. Riveting and just the right length (around 1:20) for what it is.

[ posted by sstrader on 12 August 2004 at 9:44:03 PM in Cinema ]