The Weight of Water (2000)

Weighty, and Watery. Great Moments Better Than Whole.
This film tells two stories. The first, a murder mystery occurring in what appears to be 19th century New England in an immigrant community. The second, the story of two couples - brothers played by Sean Penn and Josh Lucas with, respectively wife (Catherine McCormack) and girlfriend (Elizabeth Hurley) - on a short holiday somewhat casually investigating the matter as they sail around the locale. The timelines are well demarcated cinematically through color and sound (with a couple of odd cuts), and this film will appeal to fans of the neo-noir/mystery genre, as well as folks who like to watch Elizabeth Hurley walk around barely clad. There are some interesting relationships between the past and present storylines, well-filmed parallel stormy crescendos, and some worthy dialogue (such as the extended conversation between McCormake and Hurley about Penn's character).

I liked Mccormack as Penn's troubled photographer wife. She and Ciaran Hinds as the creepy accused murderer in the flashbacks were the bright spots in this film for me. Sarah Polley put in a typically good effort as a gray, twisted, perpetually disappointed young bride in a hard new world. Hurley was hired to ooze naughtiness in this film, and that's what she did by sucking and nibbling on every small object at hand and stroking herself so much that I'd have expected a related rash or friction burn. Was Penn's character an ogling, self-obsessed, unlikeable poet or a grand, tortured poet-soul? "Talent excuses cruelty." Josh Lucas just sort of handsomely floated around the periphery of the troubled threesome for most of the film, and Vinissa Shaw floated through the middle of the earlier timeline as Polley's naive and very sweet sister-in-law.

In the end, there were lots of moments that I liked, but the whole thing left me with a few unscratched itches and that feeling that, like a few of the characters, I'd been quickly diddled and then left alone.

...and Liz Hurley Sucking Provocatively on Everything.
This movie should have been titled "The Weight of Water... and Liz Hurley Sucking Provocatively on Everything."

As an Anita Shreve fan (this film was based on her book, which was a fabulous read BTW), I approached it with one of those "the movies are never as good as the book" attitudes.

I was partially wrong. In some ways, it eclipsed the book and in others, it fell short. The eclipsing parts make up for the shortcomings and so it is a film I'd recommend to a select type of audience, particularly, those who appreciate very artistic types of films.

Anyway there were only a couple of things I found disagreeable. The original story (the "present tense" part of the story) had Thomas and Jean's 5 y/o daughter on the boat, which I thought was a key element in the tensions that played out, but the screen play left the daughter at home w/relatives.

Secondly, while Elizabeth Hurley's character, Adelaide, is supposed to be a sexy vixen hung up on Sean Penn's character of Thomas and is a threatening presence to Jean, her part was a little "over played."

Could you see yourself on a boat w/your husband, brother in law and his gorgeous GF who's publicly announced her awe for your husband's work (as a poet), and every time you turn around, she's sucking provocatively on a piece of ice in the hot sun in a bikini, or sucking provocatively on alaskan king crab legs at dinner, or sucking provocatively on the pickup sticks during a game, or sucking provocatively on the swizzle stick from her drink - each time always making direct eye contact w/your husband.

Do you get my point then, that in this film, Liz Hurley's manner of getting her character across is by sucking on everything? And it's annoying?

However... the film is brilliant in other ways. It splits between the present and the events surrounding an 1800s murder involving Norwegian emmigrants living on an island near New Hampshire. Jean is on assignment w/her magazine to shoot some photos to accompany an article to be written about the murders. They try to mix business w/pleasure by going on a "couples cruise" for several days on the bro in law's boat.

Sexual tensions, implied infidelity, all this brooding stuff going on on the boat with intermittent scenes going back to the events surrounding the murders in the 1800s, to which there are many parallels (unhappy marriages, isolation, infidelity, etc.).

That's were the film's brilliance shows and the actors really shine. Ciaran Hinds is great as the wrongly accused and Sarah Polley is stunning in her role as Maren Hondvedt, the sole survivor of the murders (and I won't give away the plot as to what else she ends up being...).

It's a good film. If you're a guy, Liz Hurley sucking provocatively on small props should be a bonus and if you never read the book, you'd never care that the daughter isn't on the boat.

I'd recommend to friends who like artistic films.

...and Liz Hurley Sucking Provocatively on Everything.
This movie should have been titled "The Weight of Water... and Liz Hurley Sucking Provocatively on Everything."

As an Anita Shreve fan (this film was based on her book, which was a fabulous read BTW), I approached it with one of those "the movies are never as good as the book" attitudes.

I was partially wrong. In some ways, it eclipsed the book and in others, it fell short. The eclipsing parts make up for the shortcomings and so it is a film I'd recommend to a select type of audience, particularly, those who appreciate very artistic types of films.

Anyway there were only a couple of things I found disagreeable. The original story (the "present tense" part of the story) had Thomas and Jean's 5 y/o daughter on the boat, which I thought was a key element in the tensions that played out, but the screen play left the daughter at home w/relatives.

Secondly, while Elizabeth Hurley's character, Adelaide, is supposed to be a sexy vixen hung up on Sean Penn's character of Thomas and is a threatening presence to Jean, her part was a little "over played."

Could you see yourself on a boat w/your husband, brother in law and his gorgeous GF who's publicly announced her awe for your husband's work (as a poet), and every time you turn around, she's sucking provocatively on a piece of ice in the hot sun in a bikini, or sucking provocatively on alaskan king crab legs at dinner, or sucking provocatively on the pickup sticks during a game, or sucking provocatively on the swizzle stick from her drink - each time always making direct eye contact w/your husband.

Do you get my point then, that in this film, Liz Hurley's manner of getting her character across is by sucking on everything? And it's annoying?

However... the film is brilliant in other ways. It splits between the present and the events surrounding an 1800s murder involving Norwegian emmigrants living on an island near New Hampshire. Jean is on assignment w/her magazine to shoot some photos to accompany an article to be written about the murders. They try to mix business w/pleasure by going on a "couples cruise" for several days on the bro in law's boat.

Sexual tensions, implied infidelity, all this brooding stuff going on on the boat with intermittent scenes going back to the events surrounding the murders in the 1800s, to which there are many parallels (unhappy marriages, isolation, infidelity, etc.).

That's were the film's brilliance shows and the actors really shine. Ciaran Hinds is great as the wrongly accused and Sarah Polley is stunning in her role as Maren Hondvedt, the sole survivor of the murders (and I won't give away the plot as to what else she ends up being...).

It's a good film. If you're a guy, Liz Hurley sucking provocatively on small props should be a bonus and if you never read the book, you'd never care that the daughter isn't on the boat.

I'd recommend to friends who like artistic films.