Kristin Reviews The Deep Blue Sea

The Deep Blue Sea (not the one about the giant shark) is either a terrible adaptation of a reasonably interesting play or it is an excellent adaptation of an incredibly dull play. Honestly, I would not have bothered to sit through the entire thing if Rachel Weisz wasn’t popping up in “Best Actress” Oscar whisperings around the interwebs.

In The Deep Blue Sea, Rachel Weisz plays Hester, a thoroughly unlikable character whose only conscious choices in the entire film are to a) cheat on her husband and b) attempt suicide when her lover disappoints her (I’m not spoiling anything here - the suicide attempt occurs within the first five minutes of the film). What follows the oh-so-dramatic opening scene are two stories in two timelines - the flashback story showing moments from Hester's life leading up to the present (which is noted as sometime in the 50s) and the current story showing what happens following her attempt to off herself.

The thing is, Hester is pretty awful in both the past and the present. None of the events in the flashback story explain why Hester reaches such a point of hopelessness that she considers suicide an answer, nor is any indication given to suggest she suffers from severe depression (thus making a specific event or trigger unnecessary). She demonstrates absolutely no concern for her husband’s feelings when he discovers her affair, and she clings to her poor lover with such pronounced neediness that he would have been justified in returning her. In one conversation, the lover indicates that he believes he is partially to blame for their volatile relationship, but either something critical was left on the cutting room floor, or his character was reading the situation wrong.

I do not recommend watching this one unless it’s nominated and you feel compelled to. The story plods forward (squared) at no pace at all, and while the acting is good (catch Tom Hiddleston - now known to all as Loki - as the object of Hester’s clinginess), it’s hardly remarkable. If Rachel Weisz is nominated for this role, it will be because there were not enough better choices out there or simply because the Academy likes nominating her.

-Kristin
11.12.2012