Rating of
2/4
Dull Water
Chris Kavan - wrote on 04/03/22
After a long hiatus, Adrian Lyne, the director behind 9½ Weeks, Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal, returns for another tawdry thriller - but somewhere along the way, forgot about the thrills. I was hoping that Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas would provide some heat, but there is little spark between the way-too-stoic and dead-eyed Affleck and the too party-hearty teasing de Armas.
The set-up is that Vic (Affleck) is a wealthy man, having invented the computer chip that helps power the nation's fleet of drones. His has a wife, Melinda (de Armas) and young daughter, Trixie (an impish and scene-stealing Grace Jenkins). They also have a quite unconventional relationship in that Melinda is very much into younger men - and drinking - and, while on the surface Vic seems fine with her childish ways, under the surface you know is bubbling jealousy and a simmering rage. Much of the early film involves Vic casually alluding to the murder of a missing "friend" of Melinda - one of her many side pieces it seems. While Vic's bros (played by Dash Mihok and Lil Rel Howery) seem to laugh this off, aspiring writer Don Wilson (Tracy Letts) seems convinced that Vic is indeed hiding something.
Vic, for his part, does little to dispel the rumors - and stares down anyone who his wife interacts with from her new piano teacher (Jacob Elordi) to an old friend (Finn Wittrock). But he goes from steely-eyed death stares to actual death pretty quickly. The film really goes off the rails in the final half-hour as Vic is pushed over the edge.
The main issue with Deep Water is we never really get to know how these two even managed to end up together - let alone have a child. The two seem so completely incompatible and deeply unhappy with the situation, one wonders why they even play along. Aside from a few lustful quickies, the two never even seem to want to be close to one another. Affleck is as wooden as he can be here, raising snails and doing his best to make every line drip with some kind of menace. For her part, de Armas is stunning but her character is a petulant brat and a drunken party girl to boot. It's not a good look. Most of the supporting characters just flit in and out - Kristen Connolly's character looks like she will have some effect - only to be utterly wasted. And that pretty much sums up the film - a wasted opportunity. Lyne is far from the top of his game here with a thriller that wants to be erotic, but lacks both components and falls flat.
