Grade:  B+

Director:  Chris Kentis		Released:  August 2004
Writer:  Chris Kentis		MPAA Rating:  R
Players:  Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis		Running time:  79 minutes

Ratings System

I was familiar with Open Water's setup, two divers accidentally abandoned in the ocean, but once the principal characters became stranded it occurred to me I didn't know how it would end.  Would they be saved?  Would they make it to shore on their own?  Would one or both of them die?  And once you realize you don't know the ending, you are right there in the water with them, waiting and wondering what will happen next.

The hidden portion of this review resides in spoiler city.  If you have not yet seen the movie but plan to, do not read it.

[spoilers, highlight hidden text to read]
Dude, seriously.  Stop reading before I spoil the story for you.

The film opens with "Based on true events", but since they both die, I'm wondering what "true events" they were referring to.  I imagine the true events consist of them going on vacation, booking a dive, getting left behind, and search teams looking for them.  But all of that takes up about 5 minutes worth of the film.  The other hour and a quarter is complete conjecture and fabrication because most of the time the two are alone, in the water and out.  Nobody but them could have known what happened on their trip.  I would have preferred verbiage such as "Inspired by true events."
[end spoilers]

You can tell this is an independent feature.  If Hollywood had produced this picture, there would not have been a handful of real sharks, but hundreds of CG sharks circling underneath the actors during a fancy helicopter shot which pulls back to the moon.  Hollywood would have staged a thrilling rescue during a violent storm, or an "amazing" battle involving sharks, humans, and giant squid!  No such nonsense is found in Open Water, the tone is actually quite low-key and realistic.  The shots are low and up close, making it very intimate.

Although I enjoyed it, I'd recommend you not bother watching it if you know how it ends.  The real suspense comes in not knowing.

- crocoPuffs