Caffeinated Clint
It’s not so much power-packed scares or effective jumps that suck you in here, but more so just the storyline at play : the terrifying predicament of being lost in the ocean, unable to climb back on your boat.
Susan May Pratt, Richard Speight, Jr, Niklaus Lange, Ali Hillis, Cameron Richardson, Eric Dane
By calling the rather captivating “Adrift”, “Open Water 2”, in the states, Lionsgate have cheapened the product. Anyone strolling past the sleeve in the video store, will no doubt now presuppose it’s merely the latest in a long-line of past and future direct-to-video sequels made on the budget of a Good Friday Kindy recital. Truth is, this isn’t as bad as the studio misleads you to believe. Thankfully, Roadshow have stuck to their smarts – they picked it up for a start, and that’s saying something – and released it under its original title.
So why was it called “Open Water 2” in some territories? Easy, it’s near the same storyline. Bunch of folks get lost at sea, and one-by-one fall prey to the deep dark waters. And like the 2004 indy hit, “Adrift” is based on a terrifying true story of overboarders of the subterranean. In this case, a bunch of old friends (including new mother Susan May Pratt, and studly smart-ass Eric Dane – aka ‘McSteamy’ on “Grey’s Anatomy”) go on a sailing trip together. Everyone ends up in the water – one against her will – and when it’s realised that nobody put the ladder down to get back up to the yacht, that’s where they’ll stay.
German commercial director Hans Horn won’t escape the comparisons with the earlier similar film – hence the title change for the states – but he will ultimately escape the assumption that his pic is rubbish. In short, it’s not; in fact, it’s a terrific little thriller. You’ll be truly on the edge of your seat for a lot of the film, and its credit to the filmmaker’s precise direction and a tight and effective script from Adam Kreutner. Sure, some of the dialogue is a bit hokey at times, but the stuff the matters – the stuff at sea – is so close to gold, the bronze is near worn.
It’s not so much power-packed scares or effective jumps that suck you in here, but more so just the storyline at play : the terrifying predicament of being lost in the ocean, unable to climb back on your boat.
The closest you’ll want to get to water after watching this is the trickle from a dripping tap.
Extras include trailers of other Roadshow titles.
Rating : 
Reviewer : Clint Morris
