DANGEROUS WATERS
(director/writer: John Barr; screenwriter: Mark Jackson; cinematographer: John Barr; editors: Emma Gafney, Roger CropleyII; music: Zak McNeil; cast: Odeya Rush (Rose), Eric Dane (Derek Stipes), Saffron Burrows (Alma), Ray Liotta (The Captain), Sala Baker (John), Roy Elghanayan (Henchman Larry),Thalia Besson (Tabitha), Omid Zader (Henchman Kevin); Runtime: 101; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Marc Goldberg, Suza Horvat; Rio Luna/Signature Films; 2023)
“At least I didn’t get seasick watching it.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
John Barr (“Blood and Money”) directs this ludicrous thriller. It’s a disappointing family adventure story set on the high seas, about a yachting holiday to Bermuda that spirals out of control. It resembles the film that starred Nicole Kidman in the 1989 Dead Calm, but is much the lesser of the two films. Barr, the noted cinematographer, inadequately co-writes it with Mark Jackson.
The morose 19-year-old Florida hotel worker, Rose (Odeya Rush, the 26-year-old Israeli-American actress), whose dad was killed while in the army fighting in Iraq, and her diner waitress mom Alma (Saffron Burrow), have an invite by mom’s dashing new wealthy security consultant boyfriend Derek Stipes (Eric Dane) to go on a 10-day vacation on a sailboat to Bermuda to celebrate mom’s 40th birthday. Mom is eager to go, while Rose, who never met Derek before, is reluctant.
The teen discovers the yacht has assault rifles stored in it, and grows suspicious of the boat owner. But he states he needs the guns for work.
During a storm, some pirate-like thugs ram the yacht and board it, killing Alma and forcing Derek to turn over a mysterious suitcase (I would think contain drugs). Before fleeing in their boat, they wreck the yacht and shoot Derek in the arm. Rose says she learned about guns watching action films, as she finds herself in the badly damaged boat with the physically unfit Derek. The inoperable boat drifts off to a nearby deserted island, and in the climatic scene Rose encounters Ray Liotta’s unsavory Captain, a human trafficker, and goes bad-ass after him and his gang using an assault rifle.
Midway through the filming, in the Dominican Republic, in 2022, the 67-year-old Liotta died in his sleep, making this five-minute cameo, in this crappy film, his last film.
At least I didn’t get seasick watching it.
REVIEWED ON 11/22/2023 GRADE: C