This is my first post on my first blog. I hope to share my thoughts, ideas, reviews and musings about my passion for movies on this Blog. Hopefully you will enjoy the ride. Feel free to comment and share your opinions on these or any other movies you choose to share.
Dead Calm (1989) Starring Sam Neil, Nichole Kidman and Billy Zane. Directed by Phillip Noyce
My friend Markisha and I saw Billy Zane at the movies once. He was kind of a jerk. He didn't even smile back at Markisha. How could you not smile at her? She's awesome! His bad attitude served him well for this role as the handsome, dull witted and menacing young man.
What a good movie! It's a tense thriller about a couple (Kidman and Neil) on a sailing trip, following the tragic loss of their son. They are waiting for the wind on a small yacht, in a dead calm sea. A man (Zane) suddenly appears, frantically rowing toward their boat and away from a large, slowly sinking yacht in the distance. Sam Neil is confident and steady as the 20 year, ex-Navy vet, who doesn't believe the shaken young man's flimsy tale of what happened on the big yacht. Zane says he is too traumatized from being stuck on a dying boat for so many days and he refuses to go back and salvage any gear from the sinking yacht. Neil is determined to go back and find out what really happened on the big yacht. I like claustrophobic movies like this, because they lean heavily on the actors and directing to carry the film. For pretty much the entire film we see only three actors on the two cramped yachts. Nicole kidman was definitely a hot, 22 year old actress back in 1989 and all three stars were at the top of their acting games for this movie. I liked how Kidman goes from the weak victim, to the cold and calculating woman, who will do anything to save herself and her husband. It's hard to give this movie a full review without giving the whole plot away. This one just made it to my list of top notch thrillers. It only has one small weakness near the end of the movie, but then again, most good thrillers tend to have weak endings. That's because thrillers take you along for this exhilarating ride. They build up all this tension that has to end sometime. It's kind of like getting off a ride at Disneyland, with your hair blown back (OK, maybe not my hair) and then you wish for one more steep drop or one more twist and turn. If you haven't seen this movie, check it out sometime. It's a good ride!
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