Hack Aussie director Philip Noyce - recently responsible for The Bone Collector - created a competent thriller in this tale of a couple, Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman, terrorised by a castaway they pick up on their yacht. Any attempts to give them a back story and to inject real pathos, fail. That aside, the beautiful sea-borne photography and eerie score make it effective on the first viewing.
DVD Extras:
None.The stupidity of Kidman's character and the lechery of Billy Zane's wacko will have you screaming at the screen: "Just bloody kill him, will you!". Still, at least Noyce drags it out in true Cape Fear style. But as a movie which hardly demands repeated viewing, and as a disc which contains no bonus material whatsoever, Dead Calm makes for an unremarkable unessential purchase.
