A simple swim: Open Water

By Lindsay Bianchi

In about half the time Woody Allen used to lampoon Tolstoy, this first time director gets the job done in less than 90 minutes. It’s a simple story told in a straight forward fashion with the detail and depth in the writing and acting.

A young couple becomes the random victims of chance as little things lead them along until they are high and dry in the middle of a hostile ocean. Last minute vacation plans, a mix-up on a skin diving tour and simple rotten luck are the culprits in this film.

Within this simple frame, the couple’s relationship is played out as it becomes more and more apparent that no one may rescue them. Supposedly based on a true story, these chain of events from real life are treated with pathos and irony that will haunt your imaginiation.

Not quite as heavy as David Mamet’s script for “The Edge,” another man against nature plot, this is a movie that, once again, proves good writing is the best investment a filmmaker can make.

No fancy effects, just two people floating around and getting thirsty. This feature is two old people in trash cans away from being a Beckett play. Very bleak.

One other film came to mind while I squirmed in my seat. “The Blair Witch Project,” whose use of hand-held camera work in a hostile, natural environment reinvented the horror genre making naturalism and a nebulous terror the new Frankenstein. A sequence in “Open Water” even uses the black screen effect during a sea storm where the soundtrack becomes the film.

Having said all of that, I think this would be a great date movie because the couple in the picture learn a lesson about love and life. It might make dinner a little weird, though, especially if it’s a seafood restaurant.