"Deep Water" — Plane Crash Survivors Play Existential Roulette with Sharks

According to the Guardian's review, a disaster movie done well scratches an itch nothing else can: it packages sentimentality, tension and schadenfreude into neat little action bundles. Renny Harlin's new effort, 'Deep Water,' knows this exactly — and is fully aware of what it's doing, even as it winks at plenty of predecessors.

Aaron Eckhart plays the character who rises to lead the survivors after an American plane, mostly carrying second-tier movie stars, goes down into shark-infested waters. His near-"father-daughter" bond with the young passenger played by Molly Belle Wright is the film's emotional anchor. The rest is classic Harlin: shark attacks, exploding fuel tanks, passengers blaming each other, and a sky darkening rapidly over the ocean.

What does it get right? Harlin ('Cliffhanger,' 'Deep Blue Sea') knows the genre's rhythm: the film runs just over 100 minutes, no fat on it. The shark scenes (part CGI, part animatronic) remain watchable; the sound design exploding through the theater makes the case for choosing IMAX.

Where does it stumble? The characters are stock types: the alcoholic pilot, the arrogant businessman, the panicking mother, the young person who finds courage too late. The dialogue often turns didactic, tasting like a "Discovery Channel special."

Verdict. 'Deep Water' isn't a masterpiece, nor does it aim to be. But for a late-summer theater outing looking for the right mix of sharks, panic attacks and cynicism, it's a genre delight served at just the right temperature.

Source: The Guardian