Dark Water (2005)

As Good As It Gets

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

It is true that Jennifer Connolly does give an impressive very dedicated performance as a recently divorced mother that is becoming more and more unglued because of strange mysterious goings on in her and her young daughter's new apartment. The goings on really aren't "scary" per say, they mainly focus on the Mom's very painful and troubled childhood, that is a main focus point throughout the film. We see a lot of flashbacks of her and her own mother while she was growing up, and they aren't pleasant memories. I thought the movie would be different than what it actually turned out to be. To me, it was a movie that contained poor dialogue, and a story that didn't go much of anywhere, it just kinda fell flat in the end for me personally. I would've liked to see a better more thrilling and surprising plot, and I always hate whenever a film goes for a good period of time with nothing of any real substance happening, and I feel like this movie did exactly that. If you're looking for an interesting movie that has an intriguing plot and thriller like aspects, I would advise you to look elsewhere for entertainment. Yes, Connolly gives a pretty good performance, but you cannot ask one actor to carry the entire project, and I think she tried, but ultimately it just didn't have all the necessary parts that much up a good film. 3/10.

In the early 2000's, Japanese Horror movies remakes were the craze. Remakes like 2002 "The Ring" & 2005's "The Grudge", were making vast money. "Dark Water" directed by Walter Salles hope to be, just as big as them. Based on the 2002 Japanese film, which return is based on Floating Water, a short story by Koji Suzuki. Dark Water showed great promise, but the murky tale about a family menaced by the ghost of young girl who drown at a haunted apartment seem so watered down, and generic predictable that it kinda drown on itself. The movie tries to be stand out, yet be extremely faithful to the 2002 film, but it doesn't work. Lot of the movie feels rehashed and often full of clichés. The movie had good actors, but I really didn't think, that they were giving their 'all' in these roles. Jennifer Connelly as the lead character, Dahlia seem deep, but as the plot moves, it clearly shown to be shallow as hell. Dahlia's backstory as an abused child are never really developed or explored meaningfully in the film. They are simply thrown in to the plot in awkward fashion. Jennifer Connelly really lacks the emotional for this role. Not once, was I convince that she was angry, or she was in fear for her life. I know that her character was taking drugs, and maybe it was there to dull, her extremes, but gees- it really overcast the whole film. She did a lot of stupid things that were really bothering. First off, moving in. Most people, even desperate people, confronted with a situation like that would have moved out after a week. Second off, why didn't she move out, quicker, after the events toward the end? It doesn't make sense, to stay in, and take a bath in a murder house after you found out that there was a dead body in the water tank! For a mom so into her daughter's immediate safety and security. It doesn't make sense that she would live there. The father, Kyle (Dougray Scott) is even worst parent. I really hate, the movie for portraying the father as this creepy controlling over the top figure, and then toward the end, force us to feel sympathetic for him. I really hate, how the movie make it seem like he was trying, really hard to unnerve the main character, and make it look like he cares on what happen to Dahlia. It doesn't make any sense. I feel bad, for the kid (Ariel Gade). She's a really cute kid, but she's can't delivered the horrible one-dimensional dialogue, she was given. There are parts of the film, where she kinda shines, but for the most part, she felt like, an unrealistic girl scout, stereotype. There were some added material for some supporting roles which serves absolutely no purpose. A good example is the man the elevator (Simon Reynolds). He failed to advance the plot and he never brought back, up again. Honestly, for being a tenant in the building. You would think, he would give some more exposition, than proving information, we already knew. Tim Roth for instance has some scenes that are there only so he can get some more screen time. It's really hard to take his role as a good lawyer, serious, when he sounds like Jon Lovitz's Tommy Flanagan. The other supporting cast were pretty useless. Pete Postlethwaite as Veeck, should had been, portray more menacing, but they chose to make him, into a clumsy side-character. The only entertaining person in the film was John C. Reilly as Murray, the landlord. I like, how he makes the crappy apartment in Roosevelt Island seem better than it looks. The location does have a creepy environment. I have to give, props to the movie for that. The ghost, not so much. The ghost in the film, really doesn't show her presence, much and the movie has odd moments, where she does. Like how on earth, did was she able to haunt the school, as well? Honestly, how powerful was the ghost!? The movie really has vague answers for these questions. The movie doesn't have that many jump scares. In many ways, the movie drives the symbolism that it's always raining, a little too much. It kinda got annoying, at times. I really hate, how much water was wasted for this film. The movie has a lot of ominous music that tells you when a suspenseful moment is around the corner and creeping about in apartments over and over again. Yet, there is little suspense. The movie downplay the overt horror elements of the original and becoming more of a character study / dramatic psychological thriller with a focus on paranoia and atmosphere over scares. It kinda works, but it's also doesn't. The movie pacing moves really slowed, and not much, of the main plot, get done, during the time. The movie pacing really doesn't help push the plot, along. It just creates, more sub-plots, like Dahlia looking for work, a lawyer, and a good school. Honestly, the movie works more like a divorce drama, than a horror film. I hate how the movie is so sluggish and lazy. It reused shots, way too much. It felt cheap. The movie moves into more trouble water with the awful ending that really made the film, much worse than it could had been. I like the 2002 ending better. The movie is probably more, scary, today, then when it came out. In 2013, a woman name Elisa Lam was found death at the Cecil hotel in Los Angeles, when she drown in the hotel water tank. The circumstances of her death have been compared to plot elements in this film, such as the names of the characters, the dysfunctional elevator and discolored water gushing from the building's faucets. Overall: This character-driven film was sorely underdeveloped. I wish it was better.

I've watched this movie for quite a few times now. It's a beautiful piece of artistic movie making. It's not entirely without problems, but this is one of those movies where I'm ready to overlook a few shortcomings because there are so many other redeeming aspects.First, the visuals and atmosphere are amazing. Second, the acting and characters are really really good. Jennifer Connelly does a great role and creates a character that you actually care for. The supporting cast is also great, John C. Reilly, Pete Postlethwaite, Tim Roth.. all portray real characters. No one is bad or good, just people who seem real.I see this movie like an album of dark music, Portishead or so. It makes you feel something that is otherworldly, it takes you to another place, it picks beauty out of decay and rust, rain and darkness. Not for people who only like to think of roses and blue skies.The story of this movie is interesting to a point, but mostly the relationships and feelings of the people. The "horror" part, be it supernatural or not, may not succeed quite as well. In the end you may not completely understand what happens, but it doesn't really matter that much to me.To make another analogy with music and this movie, the story here is like lyrics in music. With certain music, the lyrics don't matter as much as the sounds. It doesn't always matter if the lyrics or the story aren't perfectly understandable, because the atmosphere is so well made.If you think of this movie as a horror movie, which it is marketed as, it's good to note that there are no gore and very few jump scares if any. That is always a major plus in my book, because it actually takes skill to craft a scary movie without them. This movie relies on atmosphere, characters and drama.It's a sad movie, but beautifully made.

For the story, eh, pretty basic, just another cliché about imaginary friends gone bad, a boring horror tale. However, the decrepit and industrial scenery was worth it. Through the film I was intrigued by the setting, the rotten old apartment, the red and white striped smokestacks at the power plant when the child gets onto the roof, the factories, the towers, the smog... the story was worth maybe a 3 out of 10, the scenery I'd give a 10 out of 10, so to even it out I rated Dark Waters with a 5. It was actually a remake of a Japanese version of the story. It seems to be in the same family as Orphan, the Ring, Hide & Seek, Fragile and Mirrors. Not a great movie but worth it for the factories, I love pollution! If you ever want to make a movie, head out to this place to film it!