Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Dark Tide

(2012) *1/2

In Cape Town, South Africa, Kate (Halle Berry), is a purported “shark whisperer” who hangs up her wetsuit following the death of a fellow diver who becomes shark chum during a risky dive that she insisted they perform. Fast-forward one year and we find Kate struggling to keep her tourist boat ride business afloat (pun intended). Against her better judgment she reluctantly agrees to take a narcissistic English businessman and his nerdy teenage son on a shark dive (“no cages”). Joining the adventure is Kate’s ex-boyfriend who adds to the tense atmosphere by drudging up old hurts, and another “sailor” who might as well be a red shirt from Star Trek. Trouble ensues as the boorish businessman begins to take unnecessary risks during their dives, which places them all in jeopardy as they face off against great whites.
Although Dark Tide features a stellar cast and high production values, it is a joyless, glacially paced affair that climaxes with such quick cuts and shaky cam that it is virtually impossible to understand what is happening and who it is happening to. What happened to Halle Berry's career?

9 comments:

DKC said...

I've never even heard of this?! What indeed happened to Halle Berry's career?

Octopunk said...

Well this only had a limited release in the USA and then went to video a month later, so I was ready to say it's one of those in-betweener gigs that stars take. But then I looked at her imdb page and she starred in nothing for 08 or 09, so I don't know. She's in Cloud Atlas, so somebody cares.

AC said...

i woulda thought halle in a bikini would be worth at least two stars.

Octopunk said...

Oh, also: Good wrap-up, JPX. Sounds like a typical we've-got-money-and-a-big-star-but-we-don't-really-care horror movies.

We probably need a different name for that subgenre.

Catfreeek said...

"Glacially paced" - ugh, I've watched a couple of films like that this year, it's the worst.

Johnny Sweatpants said...

I disagree with your assessment, thought this movie was terrific.

DKC said...

Ummmm, JSP, was that a deliberate error?

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Oops ! Yeah that comment was meant for JPX's Walking Dead review.

50PageMcGee said...

yet, let's leave all the comments about it here for the sake of enrichment.

Malevolent

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