Dead in the Water (2002)

The Worst Film Ever

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Blistering performances.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

1 out of ten is not low enough for how terrible this movie is. To quote Marilyn Manson, "I wasn't born with enough middle fingers" comes to mind. This movie is absolutely, completely, and pathetically terrible.The only thing that could have made it worse would have been that Maggie Grace had been cast as the annoying female. There is nothing good about this movie, whatsoever.Any vote higher than 1/10 I guarantee came from someone that was involved in making this movie, at least a free trip to the location was worth maybe at most 2/10 stars.TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, and VAPID. If someone I knew said they wanted to fund this movie I would ask them to just give me their money to burn without even enjoying the heat from it in a life threatening situation in the arctic.At no point did I care about anything that was happening, any of the characters or plot. The only moment of enjoyment was when it was over.I hated this movie so much I cared enough to write a warning to anyone looking for a movie to watch tonight. Don't make it this one.

I rented this film years ago because of the boat -- and found that I had stumbled upon a great little film. The plot might be a bit off-putting to those who do not know or do not like game theory. I bought a copy of the DVD today.***SPOILER**** The film is a brilliant use of a classic 'game' in game theory -- The Prisoner's Dilemma (PD). When the first step of the game started, I was stunned -- and hoped I had guessed right that it was the underlying plot -- and it was. If you are interested in PD or game theory, you can find information on it by searching the internet. If you like Dead in the Water, see The Spanish Prisoner -- another game theory plot. I think House of Cards is also, but I haven't seen it in years.Some of the commenters blame the actors for their acting ability* -- how could the usual cool/hip 'acting' portray the horrific binds that these characters put themselves into because they couldn't, or wouldn't, see one step in front of themselves?? It's not a nice story and these aren't people we want to know. Well, first you think you would like to know them and then you begin to realize that their beauty only goes so far. But that's the value of the story: disappointment in the friends' lack of character, and a bit of shadenfreude mixed with 'there but for the grace of god go I.' Usually when people do stupid things, nothing happens . . . . this time . . . it does.I had a good laugh at the negative comments about the acting -- similar ones were made about Kevin Costner's "lack of acting" in Dances With Wolves, a huge number of people fell all over themselves to say that he couldn't "act like an Indian." They, of course, had never met a Native American or, if they did, didn't know it. I grew up with Native Americans, and Costner did an amazing portrayal of their reserve and dignity (and is part NA himself). So sad when Opinion and knowledge don't coincide!

*** SPOILER WARNING -- READER BEWARE ***I rather enjoyed this movie. I agree with those who've said that the first 30 minutes of the film are expendable. The real fun is in the last hour. Now I would have ended it differently myself, swapping the fates of Marcos and Gloria, with Marcos drowning for real and Gloria getting rescued. A little more Neil LaBute and a little less Rod Serling. I think it would have been interesting to look in Gloria's eyes as she climbed on the chopper and settled in. Would we have seen any remorse flit across her face as she realized that she's actually going to have to face society with these three lives on her mind?There are ways to make a bad-guys-get-what's-coming-to-'em kind of film, but this one struck me as a little pedestrian. I found the acting convincing as the tension on the boat built up. Henry Thomas has managed to keep both his acting skills and his body in shape. Bairstow and Swain are still just shy of making it really big, and I think clips of this film will help them in the long run. Overall, I'm saying 6 outta 10.

***WARNING - POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD***Please, if you're thinking about going down to Blockbuster or clicking on "Rent" at Netflix...Stop! Don't waste your time or money.The premise was a little hokey, but OK, it happens. The movie outline on the IMDB page pretty much says it all...three friends take a fourth out for a day trip on the water. The odd man out disappears. The rest try to deal with the situation in less than scrupulous ways.The acting was very mediocre; Henry Thomas' career obviously peeked with ET. The dialog was somewhat forced. I felt no sympathy at all for any of them, a key element to making this kind of story work, least of all the alleged victim! And speaking of the victim, what was up with that ending?! Those of you who've seen it know exactly what I'm talking about. I know the director was trying for a very clever twist but it just didn't work. There was absolutely no thread tying the ending to the rest of the film so that it ultimately made some modicum of sense. Send back your film school diploma, guy.The short film in the bonus materials on the DVD was better than the feature. Still, save your money.