‘Open Water’ lands a whopper of suspense

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In theaters

OPEN WATER, written and directed by Chris Kentis, 79 minutes, rated R.

In “Open Water,” the bold, new thriller from writer-director Chris Kentis, a handsome, high-powered couple leave their hectic lives in the city for what promises to be a relaxing vacation in the Caribbean, one free of cell phones, the pressure of the daily grind, the monotony of habit.

For them, the sea is an escape from the concrete world that surrounds them – they welcome the open water and, to hear them tell it, they have paid plenty to play in it. So be it. After a brief interlude that suggests Daniel (Daniel Travis) and Susan (Blanchard Ryan) aren’t quite as happy as they should be together, they decide to board a tour boat, scuba dive with the 18 others onboard, and hope to reconnect in the deep reaches of the sea.

They reconnect, all right. When the tour boat operators mistakenly leave them stranded in the heart of the ocean with no land in sight, Daniel and Susan must find strength and solace in each other while gradually coming to realize some difficult truths about themselves, their relationship and especially their perilous situation.

What becomes clear is that all the control they felt they once had in their lives is and always has been an illusion. They have none, which is initially unfathomable to them. Now essentially fish food, they bob helplessly in the middle of nowhere while scores of sharks circle and bump into them, some just curious enough to lunge out and bite. When they do, the blood, clouding the water with its appealing scent, will be enough to rattle most moviegoers’ nerves.

The tension Kentis mines from this lean, deceptively simple premise is formidable, sometimes unbearable, always admirable. This is particularly true since in the water with these actors are more than 50 real sharks – not mechanical ones, a la Spielberg. The film’s ultra-low, $130,000 budget didn’t allow for it.

It also didn’t allow for consistently clear audio (that’s a quibble) or for the actors to be protected by a cage. That’s really them in the water with these sharks, barracudas and stinging jellyfish, which gives the movie an immediacy and an urgency that can be excruciatingly palpable.

Shot entirely on video and based loosely on true events, the film mounts a sustained hum of psychological suspense. It achieves this by keeping the camera mostly on the skin of the ever-darkening water, thus allowing us to feast on Daniel and Susan’s fear, anger, disbelief, rage and exhaustion as the day stretches into night while only occasionally dipping below the surface to reveal the looming feeding frenzy gathering at their feet.

“Open Water” works on many levels, chief among them as a stark examination of isolation, worry, terror and the dread that can accompany the unknown. It’s about hopelessness and loss, staring death in the face and realizing that this time out, you might not win. Its ending will ignite debate among those trained by the Hollywood machine, but it’s brave and it’s perfect. It’s also not to be missed.

Grade: A-

On video and DVD

LAWS OF ATTRACTION, directed by Peter Howitt, written by Aline Brosh McKenna and Robert Harling, 90 minutes, rated PG-13.

Sometimes in the movies, the laws of attraction can only lead to a misdemeanor. You know it when you see it. Either not enough attention was paid to the script, the situations are rife with implausibilities or there’s no chemistry between the primary love interests.

All of that’s true in “Laws of Attraction,” a thin romantic comedy that stars Julianne Moore and Pierce Brosnan as Audrey Woods and Daniel Rafferty, two powerful divorce attorneys who have never lost a case, have nothing but initial malice toward each other, yet who naturally enter into a relationship because the movie requires them to.

The film wants to recall George Cukor’s “Adam’s Rib,” the superior, 1949 classic starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy as married attorneys fighting opposing sides of a murder case. Genuine sparks flew between those two real-life lovers, but in “Attraction,” which swirls around a star-studded divorce trial, Moore and Brosnan bring no heat.

The film lamely tries for the same sort of rapid-fire dialogue that ignited the works of Cukor and Billy Wilder, but doesn’t work here. The writing is too wordy, the wit too strained, and the resulting movie comes off like an awkward museum piece. But not a total failure. “Laws of Attraction” is peculiar in that it works best if you view it along its periphery – its supporting cast is so strong, they generate what interest the movie has.

Parker Posey and Michael Sheen are appealing as loose cannons, and Frances Fisher, in particular, is especially funny in her scene-stealing turn as Audrey’s mother, Sara – a hip, 57-year-old woman still trying to keep it real with the help of a little Botox (OK, a lot of Botox), an unruly workout routine, and frequent fat injections in her lips. She’s a stray bullet that never comes off as caricature. Better yet, she looks as if she came to have fun, which is key, helping her to get the biggest laughs in a movie that would have had only a few without her in it.

Grade: C-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 Bangor and WCSH 6 Portland, and are archived at RottenTomatoes.com. He may be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Against the Ropes ? D

Agent Cody Banks 2 ? D

Along Came Polly ? D

Bad Santa ? B+

Barbershop 2: Back in Business ? B+

The Butterfly Effect ? F

Calendar Girls ? B+

Connie and Carla ? B

Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights ? D

Dogville ? B

Ella Enchanted ? B

50 First Dates ? C+

Fog of War ? A

The Girl Next Door ? C+

Hellboy ? B

Hidalgo ? C

House of Sand and Fog ? B+

The Human Stain ? D

In America ? A-

Johnson Family Vacation ? D

Kill Bill Vol. 2 ? B

The Last Samurai ? C

Laws of Attraction ? C-

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ? A-

Lost in Translation ? A

The Magdalene Sisters ? A-

Miracle ? B+

Monsieur Ibrahim ? B+

Monster-A

New York Minute ? D

Starsky & Hutch ? D

The Station Agent ? B+

Strangers on a Train ? A+

Swimming Pool ? B+

Sylvia ? B-

Taking Lives ? C

13 Going On 30 ? B

The Triplets of Belleville ? A

The Whole 10 Yards ? F