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| DIRECTED BY |
| Phillip Noyce
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| STARRING |
| Nicole Kidman |
| Sam Neill |
| Billy Zane |
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There�s something that the filmmaker/screenwriter could�ve done to make �Dead Calm� a lot more interesting than it actually turns out to be � make its antagonist into something less obvious than a calculating, charming, and reasonably intelligent psychopath. This angle is touched upon in the film�s first quarter, where we�re prone to believe that Hughie (Zane) is lying yet we don�t really have any good reason to not believe him. What if he was telling the truth? What if he�s simply a lascivious young man who�s frightened that he�ll be erroneously implicated into something and thus � out of innocent fear � reacts violently? Sadly, these �motivational possibilities� are crushed underneath overblown melodramatics as the film slowly evolves out of its mysteriously intriguing shell and into an �Aussiewood� suspense production.
The film will naturally provoke questions within assiduous viewers that it doesn�t necessarily want to provoke, such as why Rae (Kidman) doesn�t simply send the unconscious Hughie out to sea right away after tying him up. �To provide an extra few scenes of thrilling, audience-pleasing action, that�s why!� Mr. Noyce replied. Well, I�m afraid that�s just not going to cut it as far as plausibility goes. Yet despite its obvious plot holes and disappointingly simple characterizations, �Dead Calm� remains quite entertaining. Perhaps this is due to Billy Zane�s compellingly charismatic performance or Dean Semler�s impressively fluid cinematography (check out the shot late in the film that appears to move from the interior of the boat to its exterior, creatively showing us an important detail.) Either way, the film had an opportunity to move way beyond the boundaries of conventionality but � unfortunately � never followed through with it.
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