THE ABYSS
[Spoilers]
A film review by Jeff Meyer
Copyright 1989 Jeff Meyer
THE ABYSS is an interesting flick, and pretty entertaining; it's also an interesting "case study," in that the entertainment comes much more from the surroundings than the plot. The story works well enough -- nothing special, buoyed mostly by earnest if non-glowing performances by most of the cast; it seems mired in molasses at times, or maybe liquid oxygen. The audience can breath it, but they do it in gulps -- it doesn't flow well.
What *does* leave you with an impression -- and, after time, communicates more emotion than cast or dialogue, really -- is the setting and the way the film was shot. THE ABYSS takes place underwater, WAY underwater, and everything about the film gives that impression; the technical details may be off, but it *feels* right. Cameron has, without a doubt, shot about the best underwater adventure film I can think of. It gives (when seen on a big screen, preferably 70mm -- this film is *not* going to translate into video well, folks) a wonderful sense of claustrophobia, of being under *all* *that* *water*... And the deep dive ascents -- whew! You stop thinking about what they're doing, and just goggle at the spectacle of it all. I think the idea to really shoot this underwater was a good one -- it adds to Suspension of Belief factor immeasurably. (I am curious how much of the underwater vehicle scenes were done with blue-screen effects, though -- perfect place for them.)
Other good points: liked the relationship between Harris and Mastrantonio, though it never really flamed, and was a touch too earnest. And the early "unknown entity" bits were able to get me excited, mainly due to Mastrantonio's acting. Ed Harris shows that 1950s movie heroes can still muddle along in the 1990s. (Though I got this feeling, right towards the end, that he was going to say "Ready to go -- 100%!" in the best John Glenn tones.) Finally, I guess there's still some New Race Contact fascination left in me that wasn't totally sucked out by CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, but the climax seems really visually derivative at points -- kept expecting Richard Dreyfuss to help Harris off with his helmet. ("Hi! Got any Cheetos?")
Still, it's a decent yarn, at least by summer standards; the look of the film is not to be missed, though. Find a 70mm theater this weekend and jump in.
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
INTERNET: moriarty@tc.fluke.COM
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