(Well, actually that seems perfectly plausible!)
A One Mann’s Movies review of “Deep Water” (2022).
“Deep Water”, based on a Patricia Highsmith novel, is currently on Netflix and seems to be trying to replicate the success of “Gone Girl“. Unfortunately, it fails to get near it.
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
Plot Summary:
‘Retired’ and wealthy defence entrepreneur Vic (Ben Affleck) and his glamourous and much younger wife Melinda (Ana de Armas) have an ‘interesting’ marriage. It’s ‘open’ in the sense that Vic has the sexually-charged Melinda openly flaunting her affairs with other men in front of him. But when those men start to turn up dead, Vic becomes a subject of interest to the local police.
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, Tracy Letts.
Directed by: Adrian Lyne.
Written by: Zach Helm and Sam Levinson. (Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith.
Twitter Handles: #DeepWater.
“Deep Water” Review:
Positives:
- Following on from “Death on the Nile“, Ana de Armas further cements her reputation as a femme fatale to be reckoned with for the next decade. Sexy and seductive, she here exhibits a rampant physical side that is, at the very least, “a tad stimulating”!
- I liked the naturalistic supporting performance from Tracey Letts as the “Hollywood screenwriter”. (As well as an actor, he is indeed a screenwriter having written scripts for “August: Osage County” and “The Woman in the Window”).
Negatives:
- What it shares with “Gone Girl” (other than a typically monotone performance from Ben Affleck) is to make you neither like nor care for either of the lead characters. Melissa is simply controlling and spiteful; Vic feels like a timid doormat of a man, begging at the table for any sexual ‘sloppy seconds’ that Melissa feels inclined to give him.
- The plot is as holey as a doughnut:
- No spoilers, but the police department (speaking of doughnuts) hardly seem to feature in the story at all. They appear next to useless. I’ve not read the book: was there some sort of ‘backdoor bribery’ thing going on that was cut from the final edit? The police surely can’t be THAT incompetent.
- A plot point involving snails and a wallet is completely barmy. Like “WTF” barmy!
Summary Thoughts on “Deep Water”:
Glossy and with an A+ cast, this felt like it had somewhere interesting to go from the first 10 minutes or so. But then it sadly proved to be a huge let-down for me. This was the first new movie in TWENTY YEARS from Adrian Lyne, the director of “Fatal Attraction” and “Indecent Proposal”. Both of those movies, which I would gladly watch again, had ten-times more spark and intelligence than this effort.
Like Melissa, despite being seductive alluring, this is one movie best to avoid dipping your nib in!
Trailer for “Deep Water”
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90JsrQwE5CA .
