Z/Web

Disappointing and depressing. It’s a good premise — a couple is accidentally abandonned at sea during a vacation diving session — and I liked the immediacy of the digital filmmaking, but it’s not particularly scary, and the ending is depressing (though probably realistic). The film spends a lot of time trying to establish the main characters, but they still come across as stereotypical yuppies, spoiled and irritating and incredibly stupid. I never did figure out why the couple didn’t at least try to figure out some way to survive. Swimming to shore may not have been a viable option, but wouldn’t you at least go down fighting? Seeing distant boats, wouldn’t you at least try to come up with a way to signal them? Strange film. I liked the concept and the technique, but the execution and story left a lot to be desired.

Not nearly as raunchy or provocative as the advertising implied, this turned out to be a decent coming-of-age story about a conservative high school senior who falls for the “girl next door” who is a former porn star wanting to go straight. While the film glamorizes the porn industry too much, it does have a good heart and the twist ending is great. Elisha Cuthbert, from TV’s 24, is definitely the draw here as the lead, and she’s amazing, but everyone else is remarkably well-cast too. Certainly not a deep film, it’s far better than most in the teen genre. I don’t think it did too well at the box office, but that seems to be mostly due to poor marketing, since the ads implied sex and there really isn’t much in the film.