Dark Water is a psychological drama based on a short story by Koji Suzuki—the Stephen King of Japanese horror and the author of Ringu—which simmers, but never comes to a boil. The story is simple: Daphne (Jennifer Connelly) is going through a messy divorce and custody battle for her five-year-old daughter. To earn full custody Daphne needs to present a stable living environment and rents a cheap, rundown old apartment near a good school. They have a home but something feels off about the apartment—plus a large water stain on the bedroom ceiling gradually weakens Daphne’s already fragile mental state. Dark Water moves so slowly that often it feels more like a movie about bad plumbing than a study of urban dread, but there is something hypnotic about the smoggy yellow color pallet of the film that breeds an uneasiness in the viewer. Too bad this atmospheric thriller is so long on atmosphere and so short on thrills.
Great chefs know that the best food is usually created using a minimum of ingredients. Even if the ingredients are of the highest quality too many flavors confuses the palate and ruins the meal. So it is in movies. Director Ed Zwick has taken top-flight ingredients—a cast that includes Oscar nominees Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou with Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly, beautiful African locations and a worthy story—but he’s too heavy-handed with the spices, and almost ruins the stew.
In the last couple of years there have been many films about Africa’s troubled recent history. We’ve seen Hotel Rwanda, Catch a Fire, The Last King of Scotland even the documentary Shake Hands with the Devil, but none have touched on the trade in conflict diamonds. Set in 1999 Blood Diamond takes us inside the trade of western African in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
DiCaprio plays Danny Archer, a South African soldier of fortune that has turned to the lucrative but dangerous job of diamond smuggling between Sierra Leone and Liberia. Busted by border guards and thrown into jail he comes into contact with Solomon Vandy (Hounsou), a fisherman who was enslaved by the radical RUF to work in their illegal mining camps sifting for “blood diamonds” which would then be sold to legitimate sources to raise money for arms. While working at the camp Solomon managed to find and secret away a rare pink diamond the size of a bird’s egg. Archer sees this valuable diamond as his ticket out of war torn Africa. Along the way an American journalist played by Connolly and his growing friendship with Solomon raises his awareness to his part in the horror. It makes for an odd mix of straight out action and social commentary.
Zwick tries to take on the ills of the region—trade in blood diamonds, the use of children in the infantry—coupled with commentary on the West’s exploitation of the continent’s mineral resources, the responsibility of consumers understand the human cost of their purchases as well as the monetary and the personal stories of each of the characters. Throw in an almost love story and you have spoiled the broth with too many ingredients.
Each of the lead actors does good work here—although Jennifer Connolly’s war correspondent must to have an unseen hairdresser traveling with her—and several of the action sequences are spectacular, but in regard to the social and political comment of the film, Zwick seems to have bitten off more than he could chew.
John Forbes Nash Jr. was a mathematics prodigy won the Nobel Prize in economics in 1994. He was also a troubled bisexual who was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The true story of his life is hard hitting stuff, too bad barely any of the nitty gritty made it to the screen in Ron Howard’s puffy bio pic. A Beautiful Mind cleans ups Nash’s story, softening the edges and failing to provide any insight into the inner workings of this complex man. By the time we get to the third act things have degenerated into true Ron Howard hooey. The saving grace of this movie are the performances of Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly. They share real chemistry, and make for convincing viewing. It is hard to believe that this is the same actor who last year was brandishing a sword and fighting tigers in Gladiator. As for Connelly, well, she’s not only uncommonly beautiful, but is also capable of delivering an intelligent polished performance.
Dark Water is a psychological drama based on a short story by Koji Suzuki—the Stephen King of Japanese horror and the author of Ringu—which simmers, but never comes to a boil. The story is simple: Daphne (Jennifer Connelly) is going through a messy divorce and custody battle for her five-year-old daughter. To earn full custody Daphne needs to present a stable living environment and rents a cheap, rundown old apartment near a good school. They have a home but something feels off about the apartment—plus a large water stain on the bedroom ceiling gradually weakens Daphne’s already fragile mental state. Dark Water moves so slowly that often it feels more like a movie about bad plumbing than a study of urban dread, but there is something hypnotic about the smoggy yellow color pallet of the film that breeds an uneasiness in the viewer. Too bad this atmospheric thriller is so long on atmosphere and so short on thrills.
