Deep Water Review

Directed By: Adrian Lyne
Written By: Zach Helm and Sam Levinson; Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith
Runtime: 115 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated R for sexual content, nudity, language and some violence

Ben Affleck – Vic Van Allen
Ana de Armas – Melinda Van Allen
Tracy Letts – Don Wilson
Grace Jenkins – Trixie
Finn Wittrock – Tony Cameron
Lil Rel Howery – Grant
Brendan Miiller – Joel Dash
Jacob Elordi – Charlie De Lisle

The cast and crew of the new Hulu release, Deep Water, has a strong pedigree. However, it’s bizarre that such a talented group would come together and create such tepid results. It shows that even the best teams will lose and strike out when at-bat. Deep Water, quietly shuffled to a straight-to-streaming release on Hulu, proves to be thrice a victim: first to the acquisition of 20th Century Fox by Disney; second to the COVID-19 pandemic; and third, the movie itself is an incohesive mess. What should be a taut, gripping, suspense-laden thriller looks more like the husk of one despite all the major names in front of and behind the camera.

Based on an acclaimed novel by The Talented Mr. Ripley author Patricia Highsmith, Deep Water follows unhappily married Vic (Affleck) and Melinda (De Armas) Van Allen. Vic is a retired computer genius who cashed out after developing a military drone computer chip. He and Melinda share a young daughter, but Melinda appears to be over the idea of marriage and motherhood — especially marriage to Vic.

Melinda’s sole pleasure consists of openly cuckolding Vic in front of their friends. Meanwhile, Vic wards off prospective partners for his wife with veiled threats of murder. It’s not clear at first if this is some sort of sick, elaborate kinky game between Vic and his wife, or a genuine response by Vic in retaliation for Melinda’s humiliation. Either way, one of Melinda’s past paramours is missing, and another soon dies under mysterious circumstances.

Director Adrian Lyne, a master of the modern Hollywood erotic drama, ends a 20-year hiatus from directing for Deep Water, and the results are flaccid. With the point-of-view fixed firmly from Vic’s perspective, Deep Water has no strong tone of suspense or escalation. As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly inane.

Affleck’s performance is a cinematic dead end. He appears listless and bored rather than seething and cunning. It seems his one pleasure in retirement, besides hindering his wife’s affairs, is farming snails. Vic has very close friends who seem to genuinely like and trust him, but it’s not clear why. One might imagine that Vic’s wealth would allow them to take part in some of Vic’s opulent lifestyle. However, most of the parties Vic and Melinda attend throughout the film are at their friends’ homes, and they appear to be of similar social stature as the Van Allens.

Deep Water plays like an imitation of an erotic thriller rather than a genuine one. Many subplots and characters are introduced, but they do not go anywhere. There are some vague indications of Melinda conspiring with a struggling writer, Don Wilson (Letts), who moves into town and takes an interest in Vic’s suspicious activities. Don’s younger wife seems interested in Vic, but this never really goes anywhere. The score sounds incomplete and relies on this one slow, pop-esque song. Deep Water looks like it was rushed to completion without any polish and shoved to streaming with little thought or care.

Melinda lacks any genuine agency or character throughout the film, as close to 90 percent of the narrative is from Vic’s perspective. This only serves to prolong the film’s misery due to Vic’s growing sociopathy. As openly as Melinda flaunts her affairs, Vic could not make himself look like less of a culprit. There are no shocking plot twists here. The only shocks come from the bizarre behavior of the central cast.

Not all streaming releases are this uneventful, but there is a class of streaming features that resemble off-brand imitations of real films, despite having some legit muscle behind them. Some turn out to be hidden gems, like in the case of Fresh. Deep Water is not one of those cases.

Deep Water arrives on Hulu this Friday, March 18.

2.0

The final score: review Very Bad

The 411

Deep Water is a misguided, uneventful misstep about a bad marriage with two of the least empathetic spouses imaginable. Adrian Lyne, who pioneered the modern Hollywood erotic thriller, is unable to construct a compelling narrative that is in any way gripping or suspenseful. Ben Affleck looks bored out of his mind in a phoned-in performance, and Ana de Armas does not fare much better. There is absolutely no reason to watch this movie other than to marvel in awe at how a talented group of people could make such an awful picture.