Although the film's antagonists are real, the young humans aren't fleshed out enough to make us impassioned about their welfare.
Open Water (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:187
Fresh:134
Rotten:53
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: A low budget thriller with some intense moments.
Runtime: 81 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Theatrical Release:Aug 6, 2004 Limited
Box Office: $30,500,882
Synopsis: Proving that the power of imagination is much more terrifying than what meets the eye, OPEN WATER is Chris Kentis's intensely realistic deep-sea drama, "based on true events." The film's leering... Proving that the power of imagination is much more terrifying than what meets the eye, OPEN WATER is Chris Kentis's intensely realistic deep-sea drama, "based on true events." The film's leering digital video camera allows viewers to float like shark-bait, stranded in the middle of the ocean with Susan and Daniel (Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis), a bickering married couple who have just been abandoned by their scuba-diving boat in the Caribbean. As the tension escalates between the troubled twosome--who are cold, tired, dehydrated, and more than a little scared--the tragedy of the situation is exacerbated by a series of very unfortunate conditions. While a current sweeps them far from where the boat left them, and deep dark clouds pass menacingly overhead, the sea-life just below the surface is clearly not of the friendly variety. Yes, those are real sharks, folks. Meanwhile, Daniel, who watched Shark Week on television, is no stranger to the perils at hand, and finds himself battling shock. Minutes pass like hours, with the light shifting on the water and the constant motion of the waves adding to this unfathomable nightmare. The shimmering blues of wide expanses of sea are offset by dazzling underwater photography, yet the mood remains bleak. And while no special effects, abrupt developments, or abrasive gore are present here, the film instills such fear that viewers will be frozen awaiting the surprising conclusion. A day at the beach will never be quite the same again. [More]
Starring: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Estelle Lau
Starring: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Estelle Lau, Michael E. Willimson, Christina Zenarro, Jon Charles
Director: Chris Kentis
Director: Chris Kentis
Producer: Laura Lau
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for Open Water
Sharks are nature's most efficient killing machines. Open Water, which co-stars sharks, is the summer cinema's most efficient scaring machine.
It begins with a knot in the stomach that warns we're getting into uncharted waters and escalates through various stages of dread until it's all the viewer can do not to squirm in his or her seat.
[Kentis and Lau] play on a litany of basic human fears -- abandonment, among them -- with shattering, savage results.
Think hand-held cameras in the open sea, shaky and buoyed by the waves, shot on digital video (but not the good, hi-definition kind).
A tour-de-force show of how two people can bare their souls in the most extreme circumstances. Warts and all. That's more terrifying for couples than the sight of a shark fin.
Considered in its ham-handed entirety, Open Water feels more of an exercise in cinematic sadism.
While Open Water does employ a few clever gimmicks, and does have some tense moments, it also features some pretty bad storytelling and thin characterizations.
I longed for something -- anything -- unexpected to occur. What I wouldn't have given for Wilson, the Cast Away volleyball, to float past with his bloody 'face' print grinning at the pair!
... possesses a primeval power to get under your skin, if not necessarily stay in your mind much beyond its brief running time.
The actors - particularly the star-in-the-making Ryan, who takes command of the screen - and Kentis conspire to tie the audience's nerves into knots.
So nerve-wracking the concession stand could make a killing on Xanax Slurpees.
This example of minimalist stunt filmmaking doesn't add up to much, but the filmmakers deserve credit for their diabolically simple, inexpensive and effective premise...
Anyone choosing to sit on the edge of a seat in a state of locked tension ... will be utterly fulfilled. ... The fuzzy nature by which the premise is presented bites.
Justified paranoia and dark digital photography combine forces in Open Water in an attempt to generate real fear in the audience, but the resulting film is simply too thin to manage the feat.
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