Deep Water - Movie Review

Critics Score - 4 of 10

General Audience Score - 6 of 10

Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s, the term erotic thriller was introduced into the world of cinema. Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct and at least fifteen Michael Douglas films brought in the audiences as viewers wanted sexy actors and actresses showing some skin combined with stylized filmmaking. But demand fell off and we only get a few of these films that would fall into this sub-genre these days. In steps Adrian Lyne with his latest film to try and revive the sex-fueled melodrama, debuting recently on Hulu is Deep Water. While the film’s tone and aesthetics work well, so many other aspects of the movie fall short. Ana De Armas plays the horny housewife well but Ben Affleck’s acting, while fine through the first act, turns into a one note performance by the end. Deep Water tries, as Justin Timberlake would say, “bringing sexy back. Them other boys don’t know how to act.” I bet Ben was one of them boys he was referring to.

SYNOPSIS - This twisted tale of tormented lovers begins with stone-faced Vic (Ben Affleck) arriving home after a bike ride. A melancholic song plays over the ride that reminds me of something you’d hear on the Twilight soundtrack. His wife Melinda (Ana De Armas) is waiting on the porch, the camera lingering on her, our eyes settle on hers. With so much expression and depth in her eyes, there are so many words conveyed but not spoken, prompting him to ask “What?”, yet her only response is “Nothing”. Armas has the natural beauty of someone who belongs in an erotic thriller, her sexuality dripping from the screen through many scenes, even when she’s wearing a full length black dress in some. The following day they have a party to attend, Vic helps his wife slip into her high heels over her leggings before they head out. This was a great example of times when the film was actually working, when it slows down and explores some softer and quieter moments, particularly when Armas and Affleck are being intimate. Because Affleck and Armas were an actual couple in real life during the filming, it's no surprise that when the camera lingers on their faces, their love soaked gazes are able to establish some emotionally resonate moments. But after they arrive at the party and Melinda’s friend Joel (Brendan Miller) shows up, Melinda sprints across  the party to see him and things start to go a bit sideways. Melinda's aggressive flirtations would be enough to make any man punch somebody out, but Vic takes it all in stride.

After catching Melinda and Joel basically making out, Vic calls Joel into a side room to mix a drink and scare/threaten him. Affleck as an actor isn’t doing a bad job, he plays the role of pissed off husband just fine and he perpetually looks like he’s attending the funeral of somebody he hated. The hint of a scowl is always right on the edge of his lips as he gathers information on the men his wife is constantly pursuing. But this one note performance lasts the entire runtime and by the end, his dreary grimace has worn out it’s welcome. The film suffered from it’s male-centric filmmaking view, all the nudity and sexuality came from Armas, with Affleck not even indulging the audience with a shower scene. Many of the erotic thrillers of old had a much better balance of sexuality and nudity than this one-way street of a movie. But after Melinda’s continual pursuit of love interests and a plethora of Vic’s unimpressed facial expressions about it, the threat of murder is hanging heavy in the air. We’ve set the stage for a grand cinematic letdown, as the film continually deteriorates in it’s lackluster writing and character development. By the conclusion we could really care less about anybody or anything that happens to them.

Without getting into too many spoilers, it must be mentioned that there are quite a number of plot holes. So many scenarios play out that are extremely convenient, characters doing things, some incredibly stupid, that normal people just don’t do. A man happens to show up in an extremely remote location at an exact time that, let’s just say, when Affleck’s character would prefer him not to be there. Of course this man driving a Subaru was able to follow Affleck riding a bike up a mountain for many, many miles without being noticed. Maybe in the film genre’s heyday people were more forgiving, but there was an abundance of things that kept pulling me out of the movie. Any dramatic tension the film was shooting for is dispersed in how utterly foolish some of the sequences play out. While the film portrays itself as an erotic thriller, most of the dialogue that’s centered around being sexually explicit is poor and at times confusing. When a man comes to visit, Armas’ character tells her husband, “Fun fact, Tony was the first American I fuc*ed”. While this dialogue is somewhat explicit, it’s also grating on the mental tolerance of normalcy. On an aesthetic level, the film’s gray tone matches it’s blue/gray color palette which ties into the gorgeous production design of the houses we visit. But while the film and actors are mostly pleasing to the eyes, on varying levels, the problems with the screenplay amongst several others turn this film into a grueling and tiresome experience, especially for anyone critical of film.

SUMMARY - While Armas shows some skin, Affleck shows mostly signs of contempt and disdain. This film isn’t great, even good for that matter, it’s really working quite well in the realm of mediocrity. It has a few redeeming qualities but if the erotic thriller genre is relying on films like this to try and revive it, well, they’re in Deep Water.