DVD Review | Weight Of Water, The
Written by: Kage Alan

Film Rating: C+
DVD Special Features: N/A

I’ve forgiven director Kathryn Bigelow for her film “Point Break”, but only because she did such a brilliant job with “Near Dark” and “Strange Days” (mostly “Near Dark”).  Her choice in projects is unique in that I haven’t really found a pattern, only that in itself may be a pattern.  I’ve certainly never seen anything in her resume that resembles “The Weight of Water”.  Well, for a $16 million dollar budget, at least she attracted the likes of Sean Penn and that’s not an easy feat.

“Hell hath no fury…” They got that right.  Whoever thinks women can’t be femme fatales obviously hasn’t seen “Basic Instinct”.  Well, we’re dealing with another kind of femme in this film.  Jean Janes (Catherine McCormack, “Spy Game”) and her husband Thomas (Penn, “I Am Sam”) decide to take a short vacation with his brother, Rich (Josh Lucas, “The Deep End”) to an island where a couple of murders took place many years ago.  Also along for the ride is Rich’s girlfriend, Adaline (the luscious Elizabeth Hurley, “Bedazzled”).

There are two stories happening simultaneously here, one in the present with a troubled marriage between Jean and Thomas and one way back in the past between a young woman named Maren (Sarah Polley, “Guinevere”) and her husband John (Ulrich Thomsen).  While Jean suspects there may be more than meets the eye between John and Adaline, Thomas can’t help but wonder about Jean and Rich.  In the past, a stranger makes advances on Maren, only she has quite a few skeletons in her closet.  After a certain night, there’s going to be two more, only was it the stranger who murdered her sisters or perhaps something more sinister at work?

While the second half of the film is absolutely riveting, it takes an hour to get there.  The first half is set-up, set-up and more set-up and borders on boredom.  Had director Katherine Bigelow beefed up more of the mystery and lessened of the meandering dialogue between the 4 characters in the current time, it might not have been so painful to sit through.  The performances are fairly solid, though Elizabeth Hurley isn’t given much to do except look like she’s seducing Sean Penn or revealing her bare breasts for the male viewing audience who probably only rented the film because they found out about it.

Lions Gate has released “The Weight of Water” in a fairly solid Widescreen transfer.  There’s a hint of grain in some scenes and a few minor flecks and specs, but aside from that, video quality is actually consistent.  Well, it would have to be for a project to attract Sean Penn.  Audio quality is as good as it needs to be too.  This isn’t a special effects film by any means, so as long as we can hear the dialogue, it’s all good.  As for extras, Lions Gate is a little light on this disc with only a couple of trailers.

The film is based on a true story about a series of murders that took place while the culprit has been widely debated for many years.  The solution to the mystery is intriguing and that alone makes “The Weight of Water” worth watching.  If only the rest of it could have held viewers’ interest.  Believe me, it’s not the fault of the actors.  It’s the poor pacing of the script and the editing style.  All in all, it’s a mixed bag, but one that will either absolutely appeal to some or not at all to others.