Open Water (2004)

Well, it does have quite a bit of tension. But I attribute that to the general timbre of the situation, as the filmmakers seem to be doing their best to work at making the least effective film possible. Bad: The DV cinematography isn't too bad as far as these things go, but the director's habit of filming grey skies and sticking these shots (drenched with one of Graeme Revell's worst scores) into the film whenever he bloody well pleases is irritating. Worse: The dialogue veers from believable to dopey and back again like a drunk driver negotiating a cactus field. Worst: The actors aren't good enough to sell the dopey stuff, particularly Blanchard Ryan. There is a mighty struggle between the primal force of the premise and the incompetence of the cast and crew for a long while. Finally, the primal is submerged and drowns, leaving us with the kind of 'is that all there is?' ending that people mistakenly thought they saw on The Blair Witch Project. So yeah, it's not good. It tries, but it's just not there. Personally, I blame Blanchard.

Grade: C+