Dead Calm (1999, DVD)

The 1989 film Dead Calm exists now as sort of a forgotten footnote in the careers of Nicole Kidman and Billy Zane. Sam Neil had already established himself to a certain extent by this movie but the other 2 stars were still relative unknowns at the time.

Dead Calm is a psychological thriller that boasts a simplistic plot that is extremely obvious from the outset. Rae (Nicole Kidman) and John (Sam Neill) Ingram are a married couple who are recovering from a devastating car wreck that killed their only son and shook both of them up considerably, especially Rae. They decide to take a vacation on their yacht out in the ocean to try to recuperate and get their lives back together. While they are out at sea they pick up a mysterious passenger named Hughie Warriner (Billy Zane) who is adrift at sea. He claims that he is the only survivor of a tragic food poisoning incident on the boat that he was a passenger. Not completely believing Hughie's story, John decides to investigate his story and takes a lifeboat out to where Hughie's ship is. Needless to say what he finds when he gets there is truly horrific. Basically, Hughie slaughtered everyone on board. Hughie, realizing that John isn't on the boat, takes over the Ingram's yacht and displays pretty psychotic feelings towards John's wife. John then tries to get back to the yacht but Hughie's boat isn't running correctly and John realizes his wife is in serious danger. The film then chugs along to a predictable finale that goes just a bit overboard in comparison to the relative restraint shown during the rest of the film.

The film's big downfall is actually the plot itself. Anyone with a working brain cell will be able to predict that Hughie isn't what he seems to be the moment he arrives on their yacht, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the film due to the great & realistic performances and the terrific direction and editing. Considering this movie takes place almost completely out on the ocean on a yacht and there are only 3 principle actors involved, the movie could have quickly turned into a bore. But everyone involved managed to take a generic plot and craft quite a jarring little psychological thriller out of it. This movie is a great lesson for anyone wanting to see how to take something throughly predictable and still make something memorable out of it.

The 3 main actors all do splendid work with Billy Zane especially displaying quite a knack for playing very psychotic and disturbing characters. Other than his underrated performance in the equally underrated horror-comedy Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, I don't think that I've ever seen him act this well and energetic. Sam Neill does his usual great work and really helps to ground the film. Nicole Kidman probably has the most difficult role since she has to go through quite a few changes of character as the movie progresses. She starts out as extremely feeble and weak, but as the movie goes along she gradually changes into quite a formidable adversary for Hughie, especially when it's just the two of them on the boat while her husband is trying to catch up with them. I really liked how her character used Hughie's attraction towards her to her advantage and those scenes are some of the most impressive. Nicole's nude scenes actually have a point in the story and aren't just present for exploitation purposes (though I've got to admit she does look great).

The direction, editing and cinematography were considerably better than what the material required and really helps to keep things visually interesting. This was probably the biggest challenge since the movie takes place in such limited environments. Kudos to the cinematographer and the director of photography.

This plot has been done many times before and since, but Dead Calm managed to assemble a mix of ingredients that a lot of other similar films sorely lack. While it's definitely no Cape Fear (the Martin Scorsese remake BTW), it still manages to pack a considerable punch and is a great showcase for the 3 stars. It is not quite a classic, but it is a great example of how to take a predictable and generic plot and make something worthwhile and entertaining out of it.

I strongly recommend checking out this movie in widescreen on DVD since the movie was filmed in the 2.35:1 widescreen ratio in the Panavision anamorphic format. The movie really makes great use of the 2.35:1 ratio and really suffers on the horribly cropped pan/scan full-frame VHS version.

Dead Calm is rated R and contains strong violence, nudity and language.