Shallows, The (2016) [Blu-ray]
Drama | Horror | Thriller

Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing alone on a secluded beach when she is attacked by a great white shark and stranded just a short distance from shore. Though she is only 200 yards from her survival, getting there proves the ultimate contest of wills.

Storyline: In the taut thriller The Shallows, when Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing on a secluded beach, she finds herself on the feeding ground of a great white shark. Though she is stranded only 200 yards from shore, survival proves to be the ultimate test of wills, requiring all of Nancy's ingenuity, resourcefulness, and fortitude. Written by Sony Pictures Entertainment

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, September 26, 2016 There will probably never be a better shark movie than Jaws, Director Steven Spielberg's acclaimed and beloved 1975 film that famously made people "afraid to go into the water." Others haven't necessarily tried to top it, but many have tried to duplicate its essence. From silly creature films to inspirational tales of survival, the "Shark" genre may not be a prolific turnstile breadwinner for studios, but it's something of a mainstay in popular culture and always, seemingly, a popular draw when one is released. The Shallows may very well be the best Shark film since Jaws, essentially transforming 127 Hours into a movie about a wounded girl trying to survive with a deadly shark encircling her one and only watery refuge. It's well done, emotionally impacting, and very absorbing, a testament to the power of simple storytelling that gets down to the very essence of humanity, life, and death.

Medical student Nancy (Blake Lively) has traveled to Mexico to surf the same waters her late mother visited while she was pregnant with her. She catches a ride out to the beach from an agreeable local and finds herself out on her own when her friend stays behind after a night of partying too hard. She hits the waves and finds solace and satisfaction in the water, but she makes a potentially fatal mistake when she wades back out for one more run before heading back to the hotel. She finds a dead whale a little ways out and soon, its killer: a large, hungry shark bent on feeding on everything in the water. She's bitten in the leg, tearing open a large gash of her flesh. She manages to reach a rocky formation and find temporary safety, but the shark isn't about to let its meal slip away after a respite. It circles her rock, leaving her wounded, tired, and with no avenue of escape.

The Shallows gets quick to the point, crafting enough character construction to mean something and having a bit of fun in the water before things turn south for Nancy and her fight for survival begins. Character development can be a bit cliché -- she lost her mother and she's returning to a beach that meant something to her -- but Director Jaume Collet-Serra and Writer Anthony Jaswinski handle it with care, building on simple, tangible themes and human emotion not just to elicit a response from the audience, but to have Nancy's fight for survival mean something to her and to the viewer. Sure it's cliché, but it's representative of real life. The film tackles core emotions that don't necessarily drive her survival instinct but at least add another layer to it, culminating in a simple and well done moment about an hour into the movie that gets to the very heart of humanity, life, and death. Indeed, the film blends simple emotional content with visceral and nail-biting moments of intensity and survival very well, but it's in those other moments that fill most of the movie where The Shallows truly shines.

The film draws plenty of intensity from the slow-burn waiting game where it spends the majority of its time. Beyond the cheerful and character establishing open and several moments of high intensity frights, The Shallows mostly invests in Nancy and her plight, as much her emotional state as her physical deterioration. That underlying fear of uncertainty only elicits a deeper emotional response as her window for survival begins to erode, whether due to her failing health or the coming of the high tide. The movie is very well made on all fronts, with Blake Lively masterfully maneuvering through the part's physical and emotional demands alike. She explores that foundational essence of her being to satisfaction and builds on it as she rests and recovers and tries to figure out how -- if -- she's going to survive her ordeal. Her ability to blend the two -- to find that inner center of her soul while realistically portraying a wounded, fearful individual whose hope for survival rests more on her ability to focus and stay positive than anything else -- elevates the movie well beyond its superficial simplicities. Director Jaume Collet-Serra (Non-Stop) captures the intricacies of her performance with a knowing eye for contrast and juxtaposition, enhancing her performance with a blend of intimate photography and sweeping vistas which not only capture the beauty of the environment but its perils, too. This is a complete movie, certainly not a classic but a fine example of well-made, strongly performed, and engrossing cinematic storytelling. It's too bad more movies aren't like this.

The Shallows is just a really good movie. It's slickly made but never feels so, capturing a gritty essence of danger and soulful presentation of the human spirit. With a great led performance, excellent construction, a terrific pace, and classic edge-of-seat intensity, the film serves as a reminder of cinema's ability to lure in an audience and take it on a journey of both peril and triumph. Sony's Blu-ray release of The Shallows delivers excellent video and audio. Supplements include several deleted scenes and four featurettes. Very highly recommended.

[CSW] -3.6- The best shark movie in years. This movie pits a young woman's desire to live against a shark's desire to eat. Both characters are doing what they need to do to survive. There are those who will say that the shark would have feasted on the whale corpse and ignored the people. There are those who will observe that a shark really doesn't go on a killing spree. In the movie's defense, you have to have something to keep the film interesting and build tension for the film to work well. Blake Lively is wonderful and brings a lot of life and character to the film. She makes you root for her - which brings more tension into the project. The film did a nice job showing her "logically" figure out ways to help herself survive. That was a huge bonus and did a lot to make the movie emotionally satisfying. It was a very well written script that gave you a believable situation. The shark looked great. The movie kept the shark at a minimum (ala Jaws) which was a smart thing to do. Keeping the film focused on Lively's character was the best way to tell this particular story. I had low expectations going into this film because of the history of bad shark movies but I was rewarded with a great survival film that I can recommend.
[V5.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box motion codes were available at the time of this rental although they are available now.


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