Open Water (2004) from Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Open Water is a micro budget film about two vacationing divers who were mistakenly abandoned at sea by a scuba excursion boat. It was a real critical favorite, but my impression is that reviewers over-hyped this movie. The acting is below the professional level, the back story (slash) character development is mundane and trite, and there are some parts which are static and repetitious.

On the plus side, the film does have about three or four great scenes which are so filled with tension that you will be squirming in your seat.

1) At one point, the two yuppies are caught in a powerful lighting storm. They bob around, seeming to be miniscule elements dwarfed by massive waves and overwhelming thunder cracks, illuminated by a natural strobe effect created by lightning. This film does as good a job as any I have seen of showing the insignificance and powerlessness of man in the face of the brutal strength of the unharnessed elements.

2) As the divers are circled by sharks, the POV shots capture their fear and confusion perfectly. There's the fin, no it isn't. It's coming this way, no it isn't. It's big, no it isn't. Did something brush my foot, or was that you? How many are there? The divers' point of view switches rapidly from just barely above water to just barely below, just as it would in reality, offering tantalizing glimpses of the threat they face. This is especially effective as the end nears, when other people finally realize the divers are missing, and the sharks close in on them while an armada of boats and choppers engages in a frantic search.

3) The closing credits are spectacularly effective, but I can't really tell you why without spoiling at least two key secrets.

4) There is an unexpected last-minute plot twist which is quite emotionally affecting in a quiet way, kind of a "what did I just see?" moment that delivers its punch some time after it actually happens.

The film has been compared to The Blair Witch Project, and it does have both strengths and weaknesses in common with that earlier effort:

• It was made on a shoestring budget with unknown actors.

• The build-up of tension is good, the pay-off is not.

  • (This is not really a major negative, as I see it. I think that means the film concentrates on the psychological elements of fear rather than delivering the kind of gore and guts you might see in a slasher or splatter film. In case you care, this is not one of those "when animals attack" thingies where limbs are torn graphically from torsos.)

   

• When the film is not delivering thrills, it fails to hold one's attention.

  • The dialogue is generally banal and ineffective, the actors are not very polished, and the quiet moments are so slow that my mind drifted completely away from the movie until a shrieking violin warned me that something was happening and snapped my head back up. A lot of critics complained that most of the film just consists of treading water. That is literally true, but also has metaphorical accuracy, in the sense that the film is dull and uninvolving until the big moments. I was drifting off at times until some tense music reminded me to snap to. 

  • (Again, I don't see this as a deal-breaking negative. A roller coaster ride is about the same, isn't it, except in more compact form? To those who said the film was a cheap stunt, I say - hey, that's pretty much what made it worth watching. It's not that much longer than a roller coaster ride at 75 minutes, and it delivers the same kind of alternating loose-taut involvement. The "loose" sections are calculated to be not merely peaceful, but to convey the loneliness inherent in their isolation from other humans and our technological world.)

I wouldn't really seek out this kind of film, because I don't like having my blood pressure manipulated like this, but I was impressed. The damned thing sure had my pulse going up and down, so I think it delivers what it is supposed to, namely solid management of tension on a miniscule budget.

The film was hyped as a potential blockbuster and that never happened, but it did gross $30 million, which is damned impressive for a film made on a shoestring by virtual unknowns.

SIDEBAR:

Open Water is an intense movie to begin with, but I think this flick could scare the livin' bejeezus out of you if you saw it after burning one. Don't even think about it, dude. Now THAT would be intense.