Warning! Warning! Warning!
I paid $5.50 (Senior price) to see one of the worse movies ever produced: "Open Water". Also, my opinion of Ebert & Roper's critical eye for movie production has gone into the basement. They both gave it a thumbs up! For those of you who will be sucked into seeing this movie, or for those of you who want a real laugh, I won't give away the dumb ending. What's wrong with this movie?:
1. The acting is terrible - to me, the actors looked and sounded like they were "acting" - kind of like watching a high school play. Some of the dialogue I'm sure was made up as they shot the scene.
2. Camera composition, scene composition was very amateur, kind of like watching someone's home movie. Also, the quality of resolution looked grainy to me. It didn't have that sharp resolution found in a high quality 70 mm film or digital production. (maybe because of the lighting)
3. In many places the sound was "muddy" - hard to understand and muffled - almost like they were using the on-board mic on the cam.
4. It was obvious that supplemental lighting was not used in either indoor or outdoor scenes. The picture had that "dull" muffled look to it.
5. In several places (maybe all) in the UW scenes, a red correction filter was not used, creating that "blue hazy" picture.
6. I did not know that Moon Jellyfish can inflict excruciating pain.
I've dove places where they were so thick, I had to push them out of the way. I've brushed up against many Moon Jellys without a problem.
7. I didn't know a diver could easily sink in a full wet suit without weights.
8. Shark behavior patterns were absurd. I'll let you be the judge.
9. Some of the cut-away scenes made no sense. I think the editor was trying to create a contrast between the distress of the lost divers and the safe land, but it didn't work; it only confused the viewer.
10 And last, some of the background music was melodramatic and even laughable at times. Kinda like listening to a Caribbean church choir.
Did I find Anything good about this movie?
1. The portrayal of a dive "cattle boat" operation was very real with the typical DM trying to be entertaining, and the ever-present macho jerk diver (ugly American) that seems to always be present on some of these day trippers.
2. The "night scene" was also very real and intense. The only time the viewer could see the divers is when the lightening flashed; other than that, the viewer was looking at a black screen with only the sounds of the divers, water, and thunder; that's the way it would really be in Open Water at night.
Well, unless you want to be entertained in a rather different way, I would not have an Open Wallet for Open Water if I were you. My $.02...er $5.50
Barracuda2
