Saffron Burrows’ doctor is unlikeable, but her character’s motivations are noble - she’s actually driven by finding a cure for Alzheimer’s and gets to electrocute a shark. Jackson is the corporate guy, but he’s seen more as a beacon of stability before he is killed. There’s no clear villain in the film beyond the sharks. The film uses physics and plenty of light to make sure we understand what’s going on. Underwater sequences, which are dark and have humans move slowly by default, are tricky to get right. Harlin, who also directed Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger, knows how to film action. The movie isn’t afraid to stand in the shadow of Jaws, and its action sequences are clear-cut and understandable. It’s mainly anchored by LL Cool J, who plays a Bible-quoting cook named Preacher with charm to spare as he looks after his bird.īut the ensemble winnows thanks to the superintelligent sharks, who are legitimately scary. The ensemble, which does feature a young pre- Punisher Thomas Jane, never achieves the same incredible chemistry. LL Cool J is the film's anchor, by far its most charming member.ĭeep Blue Sea is not Alien. Deep Blue Sea lives up to that, especially when a certain famous actor dies right after his speech demanding that everyone stick together. Harlin also references Alien, saying the ensemble cast guaranteed nobody in the audience could predict who would die and who would live. You’re not winking at the audience, you’re trying to scare them to death,” he said in an interview at the time. “I wanted to take the genre back to the big-scale movie making level of films like The Exorcist, The Shining, and Jaws, for which you have great actors, great production values, and you do it seriously. According to director Renny Harlin, that was intentional. The movie (released July 28, 1999) has a distinctly older feel than either of those films. ![]() The biggest hits of 1999 - Star Wars: Episode I and The Matrix - were built to feel futuristic to redefine preconceived notions about Anakin Skywalker and human identity, respectively. The film has my highest recommendation, but don't rent it if you're feeling sleepy (or adulterous).The cast of Deep Blue Sea with direct Renny Harlin, center. Of course that song is a fitting subtext for the film. Later, in the present, some drab looking pub goers do likewise singing the Jo Stafford version of "You Belong to Me" under muted and warm light. The huddled, frightened Londoners cheer themselves up by joining in song. There's a long tracking shot during a flashback during the London blitz, that as stunning and moving a moment in any film I've seen this year. Every shot is a glowing work of art, using the drab post war London as a backdrop. The selling point for me, is the stunning looking film itself. ![]() The question is never answered, but the tragic end of the story, (a failed suicide attempt) still leaves a hopeful crack open in the the door for Hester, who has lost everything, to find a fulfilling life for herself. ![]() Her attempted suicide is her first reaction. The mystery is why a woman (Hester) would throw away a comfortable, cultured life for unrequited love (of which her eyes are fully open) to a man who may be good in bed, but is in no other way worth it. Hester is a strong, misguided woman trying to find herself in a pre-feminist world and her performance resonates very deeply and hauntingly. They are all perfect, but Weisz is a standout. These three actors do wonderful internal work that is full of subtext and deep emotion. Rachel Weisz plays an lady married to a much older successful judge, who throws away her whole life for love, (or really for good sex) with a younger, dumber war hero (Tom Hiddleston, the bad guy Loki of The Avengers), who is more or less the opposite of the cultured and thoughtful man to whom she is married (Simon Russell Beale). It also jumps back and forth in time, and you need to be alert to figure out where you are in the story. If you like your movies full of dialogue and action, you might asleep before act one closes. Since all those pauses are fraught with meaning and precise and deeply felt acting, I was not bored. Please be warned this film is exceptionally slow moving, with gaping, meaningful pauses you could drive a panzer division through. Davies has only produced a handful of films in the last twenty years, and this may be his best. The spare and brilliant adaptation of one of Britain's greatest 20th century playwrights, Terence Rattigan, is brought to life and very much into film language by another Terence (Davies) a filmmaker's filmmaker. ![]() The Deep Blue Sea is an intricate, subtle and exquisite looking chamber soap opera, set in post war London of 1950.
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