Now streaming on Hulu.
[Rating: Rock Fist Way Down]
The hype in Hollywood last year revolved around the newly formed relationship and then subsequent break-up of actors Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas. They star in Adrian Lyne’s newest film (actually, his first in twenty years), Deep Water, about a couple whose open relationship gets the better of not only their so-called love for one another, but threatens to ruin their marriage as a whole.
Vic Van Allen (Affleck) and his wife Melinda (de Armas) have an open marriage. They no longer love one another and the passion they once had is lost. Vic allows his wife to take lovers, as long as she does not desert her family. This is normal for them and Vic even meets a few of his wife’s lovers, past and present. When one man is found dead in their pool, suspicions arise as to whether Vic had something to do with it. Friend Don Wilson (Tracy Letts) further questions Vic and doesn’t buy into that he isn’t guilty. Vic has joked one too many times that he ends up killing Melinda’s lovers and people take it as such. But has it gone too far? Things turn even more mysterious when Melinda’s friend Tony (Finn Wittrock) faces Vic’s lurking ways.
To get right to it, I did not like this movie. In fact, I hated it. I felt the ultimate premise of this was going to be a more erotic drama-thriller for any fans of Lyne’s work like Fatal Attraction or Unfaithful, two films I was probably too young to watch when I did, but that I adore. His prowess of using two attractive people and getting them into sexy situations results in nothing here. Affleck looks like he has no idea what he is doing and de Armas should not be in a movie this bad. The plot takes forever to actually suck you in and when it does, it is terribly confusing as to what is going on. The real kicker is the way the film wraps up its third act. If there is a complete ending to this story, I’d like to see it because it is as non-existant as this couple’s sex life.
I had such hopes for this movie. Lyne has not made a movie in twenty years and it was high time for him to give us yet another erotic thriller, and yet I’m left with a movie that is as bland and shallow as this couple’s love for each other.
Christian Ramos is a classic film fan, having had the dream to host Turner Classic Movies for years now. He also has a large amount of Oscar trivia in his head, remembers dressing as Groucho Marx one Halloween, and cherishes the moment Julianne Moore liked his tweet.
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