In today's crazed world of knowing anything and everything about celebrities and their lives, a popular related pastime is wondering, "whatever happened to?" and "who were they before they were stars?" Although there's a literal plethora of star histories to fill both categories, our topic day today will concern those involved in the 1989 Australian film, "Dead Calm."
While the film didn't make a huge splash stateside and didn't serve as any of major cast and crewmembers' introductions to the entertainment industry, it did launch the careers of those involved into far higher orbits than any had previously enjoyed.
There was Nicole Kidman ("Eyes Wide Shut," "Practical Magic") playing the beautiful and resourceful wife (and later real-life wife to Tom Cruise), Sam Neill ("Jurassic Park," "Event Horizon") as the determined husband, and Billy Zane ("Titanic," "The Phantom") as the psychotic villain in a role that would forever typecast him as the villainous type. Then there was director Phillip Noyce who went on to direct films such as "The Bone Collector" after achieving worldwide fame doing the same with those Harrison Ford/Tom Clancy pictures such as "Patriot Games."
Based on Charles Williams' novel and as adapted by screenwriter Terry Hayes ("Payback," "The Road Warrior"), the film is simplistic in structure --a seagoing couple picks up a desperate man who takes over their boat when the husband goes to investigate that man's abandoned ship - but is effectively constructed to elicit the maximum number of thrills and chills. That's especially amazing considering that the "sets" consist only of the decks and interiors of two oceangoing vessels - the smallest one comprising most of the film's drama and action.
Turning what seemingly would be some severe limitations to his advantage, Noyce delivers a tense and foreboding story that manages to survive a few suspension of disbelief miscues as well as what seems like a tacked on, Hollywood ending designed to provide one last jolt. While it does just that, the effect feels cheap compared to the masterful way in which Noyce and his cast and crew create and maintain an edge of the seat thriller.
Using the tight quarters of one ship and the hidden surprises and leakiness of another to his full advantage, Noyce keeps the thrills cued up, ready to unleash them onto the viewer. Accompanied by composer Graeme Revell's ("The Siege," "The Negotiator") wonderfully haunting, but quite effective score, the story proceeds in a mostly believable, but harrowing fashion.
Of course to pull off a film where two characters are stuck in an intimate setting and another is by himself, the performances have to be top-notch. Fortunately for the film and the viewer's "enjoyment," that's the case here. Today's viewers will marvel in hindsight at how young Kidman appears, but will just as easily appreciate her strong performance. In an era of filmmaking where the more memorable female characters were the tough and resourceful survivors (such as Sigourney Weaver in the "Alien" flicks), Kidman creates just such a character, but also gives her enough complexity to keep her human.
As her tormentor, Billy Zane excels in the role, even if we ultimately never really know what motivates his character and makes him tick. Nonetheless, in the same time of a multitude of faceless and one-dimensional, slasher film "boogeymen," Zane creates a far more frightening and memorable villain than the rest of those characters combined. Finally, Sam Neill, whose characters are often the epitome of being the resourceful, "never lose your cool" hero, does a good job playing the husband who must find a way to contact and eventually help rescue his wife.
Although there's nothing particularly complex about the story's setup or the way in which it unfolds, Noyce and his cast masterfully handle it and create a fun thriller. While it still might not be that well-known to the general public, it's certainly one of the best entries in that genre in the past decade or so.
As far as the disc itself, the picture - despite some grainy scenes and a bit of pixelation - looks quite good and the audio - although not presented in the latest, "greatest" audio format - is still very effective in accentuating the proceedings. Our only real complaint is the sparse amount of supplemental materials - a lone theatrical trailer - that should have included running audio commentary by Noyce and/or the cast members reflecting on their creation of this small, near masterpiece.
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