WADE IN THE WATER

(director: Mark Wilson; screenwriter: Chris Retts; cinematographer: Thomas Rose; music:Jacob Boyd: cast: Tom E. Nicholson (Our Man), Danika Golombek (Tilly Anderton), Samuel Whitehill (William Anderton), John Clark (Our Man’s Father), Kevin McKim (Paul Guisek), Sheila Mears (Therapist), Matthew Daniger (hamburger place clerk);Runtime: 88; MPAA Rating:NR; producers: Mark Wilson/Chris Retts; Reflect Entertainment; 2019)

“Shoots for dark comedy and being off-beat”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

It was the winner of “Best Drama” at the 2019 Hollywood Reel Independent film festival. A clever low-budget indie thriller directed by Mark Wilson (who graduates from video shorts) and written by Chris Retts. The film shoots for dark comedy and being off-beat.The title is derived from an old spiritual song of the same name, which plays during the end credits.

Tom E. Nicholson plays an unnamed obese and troubled character simply called “our man”. The loner works from home as a bill collector for a medical insurance company. He sees a counselor (Sheila Mears) for psychological help, but has made no progress. One day he gets the wrong package of a CD and breaks it after listening to it–this takes him on a journey to visit his haunted childhood and his dark secret, as he makes it his mission to find out why he got the package. On his mission he makes his only friend, Tilly (Danika Golombek), the daughter of the one the disc was meant for. A strong bond between the fragile broken man and Tilly takes hold, despite her knowing what a horrible thing he did in the past. The chemistry between Nicholson and Golombek is solid.

The film is well-executed, has an intelligent narrative and gets a marvelous performance from Nicholson. Comedy is induced from following the hopeless hulking figure around and seeing what an effort it is for him to even get off his couch.

REVIEWED ON 6/28/2019       GRADE: B+
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