Open Water (2003)

Director: Chris Kentis

Writer: Chris Kentis

Composer: Graeme Revell

Starring: Blanchard Ryan, Daniel Travis, Saul Stein, Michael E. Williamson, Cristina Zenato, John Charles, Estelle Lau, Steve Lemme

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Drifting into theaters this summer.

Plot: Based on the true story of two scuba divers accidentally stranded in shark infested waters after their tour boat has left.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Good flick.  I can only imagine how frightening it must be to find yourself stranded like these two in the ocean with no hope of rescue in sight.  I grew up near a beach so swimming in the Gulf of Mexico was a regular thing as a kid.  You still had to share the water with sting rays and sharks (which you would see every once in a while and yes, it's scary as shit and you swim like a mother fucker back to the beach screaming your friggin' head off) but at least land was just yards away.  This picture does a pretty good job at conveying that.  There are some interesting bits in the IMDb trivia section, particularly that all of the sharks were real and the shots of them swimming around the actors wasn't faked in any way.  Impressive.  It helps sell the fear.  I liked the ending, too, and how quiet it was.  I wasn't crazy about the lo-fi picture quality but that's hardly a deal killer.  Making a picture for $130k that gets picked up by a major studio and gets nationwide theater play is A-OK in my book.  That's the dream, man.