‘Dangerous Waters’ Movie Review: Odeya Rush Kicks Ass In Not-Bad Survival Thriller
Photo from Brainstorm Media
From Jeremy Kibler
Dangerous Waters is such a bland throwaway title that it undercuts what turns out to be a reasonably tense if boilerplate survival thriller. It’s also a sufficiently absorbing showcase for Odeya Rush, a Mila Kunis-lookalike who plays a resourceful, fully capable teenager rather than a helpless damsel in distress.
Florida teen Rose (Rush) is dreading a ten-day vacation with her widowed waitress mom Alma (Saffron Burrows) and her new boyfriend Derek (Eric Dane), a handsome and charming former cop who now works in private security. Bound for Bermuda, they set sail on Derek’s yacht. When Derek isn’t romancing Alma and getting into Rose’s good graces, he’s also teaching Rose some sailing tips (that will come in handy later) when she isn’t finding assault rifles below deck. Luckily, Rose knows how to shoot, and she’s a lover of action movies, but little does she know that she’ll have to put all of her skills to the test when a bunch of armed thugs climb aboard.
At its best, director John Barr’s straightforward thriller recalls Dead Calm—that unsettling 1989 open-water suspenser with Nicole Kidman, Sam Neill, Billy Zane—even though you won’t need a compass to know where it’s going. Mark Jackson’s screenplay is surprisingly economical in setting up Rose and Alma’s situation and dynamic, and it’s enough to make us care. Rush and Burrows also help with their natural chemistry, and Eric Dane, as dashing as he is untrustworthy, appears to be having some hammy fun the more the film goes on.
What makes this better than it has any right to be is having a smart protagonist like Rose taking care of business. She’s not dumb, nor is she some superwoman ready to join the Marvel gang. When Rose gets picked up by a ship led by The Captain (Ray Liotta) after finding temporary refuge on a deserted island, the film then really changes gears. Relying more on stunts and less on single-location minimalism, it leans into being a sleazy action B-movie. Rose gives a good fight even as she gets punched and kicked around, and the late Liotta (giving his final performance) does bring a skeevy menace to his brief but very uncomfortable scene. Even as sex trafficking comes into play, Dangerous Waters never dives into tacky exploitation. In terms of keeping the viewer’s attention, it’s competent, no-nonsense, and involving enough to stay afloat.
Rating: 2.5/5
Dangerous Waters hits theaters and on demand on October 13, 2023.
