Directed by: Jim Wilson
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Cameron Diaz, Craig Sheffer, and Billy Zane
Genre: Comedy / Dark Comedy, Thriller
Rated: PG-13
A Remake of the Norwegian Hodet Over Vannet (1993)
While her husband is away on a fishing trip, Nathalie’s ex lover, Kent, shows up and surprises her. Kent does his best to charm and seduce his former flame but Nathalie resists his advances, ending the night sleeping on the couch while Kent takes the bed. Unfortunately, Kent passes away during the night, leaving Nathalie to discover his nude corpse as her husband and friend are returning from sea. What ensues is a comedy of errors as Nathalie tries to hide Kent’s body, get rid of any evidence he’d been there, prevent her jealous husband from getting upset, and keep her head above water.
I remember watching this as a tween and being confused by the plot. I was also heavily grossed out by the age gap between Nathalie and George, as he is old enough to be her father. Now, at thirty five, I found myself thinking about this flick and wondering if it was still as weird as I remembered it. Spoiler Alert: It is … and far creepier too.
When Nathalie states in her opening narration that she’s “always had terrible luck with men,” she’s not kidding. Sadly, she thinks the men currently in her life are the exceptions, when, by the end of the movie, both make it clear they are not. When it comes to George, it’s not just the age gap that is problematic – it’s everything about their relationship. He’s the Superior Court judge who presided over her charges of drug possession and domestic disturbances. I assume the relationship sparked during that time, creating an unhealthy power imbalance between them and an ethical issue with his involvement in her case. She also claims he’s “helping her get over her addictions,” but she’s still popping pills in secret and there is a wide assortment of alcohol in the home. As someone who grew up around addiction, I know how important it is to keep a booze-free home when living with an addict so as not to tempt them. Instead, she just has to refrain from drinking while it surrounds her, telling Kent, “George doesn’t like me drinking.” That’s not fair to her, and it seems that she might not be the only one with a substance problem in their marriage.
As far as her best friend Lance, he, for the most part, just seems clingy and caught up in his long standing unrequited love for Nathalie. It’s cute at first, knowing that they’ve been friends since childhood, but unfortunately for him, she sees him as an older brother figure, rather than a romantic prospect. It isn’t until he says some ultra creepy things to her at the end of the film that the viewer realizes his feelings aren’t so innocent and Nathalie may not be as safe with him as she thought.
Maybe the story was more comedic in the Norwegian version (currently impossible to get without a VPN for those of us in the US), but it doesn’t translate well to American culture. From the reviews I’ve seen by those able to compare the two, the Norwegian version is far superior. I hope to be able to see it someday and learn how the story was meant to be told. Here, it’s more of a thriller than a comedy. Sure there are some light comedic moments, such as the scenes between Diaz and Zane or the over-the-top ridiculousness of the runaway chainsaw and exploding boat at the climax. However, the majority of the film is scary from the perspective of a woman: being stuck alone on an island with an ex that is heavily laying on the charm in an attempt to seduce her; his sudden and unfortunate death; the subsequent fallout of her husband discovering the body and losing his mind; and her history of addiction and mental health issues being used against her when she’s reaching out for help. The “needing to get rid of a body” dark comedy trope has been done better in other films (Moving Alan comes to mind), but here it spirals into a mediocre suspense film with limited comedic elements.
I feel like this film would have been more successful had it either leaned further into the comedic elements or taken a darker route through its thriller side. If aiming more toward comedy, there should have been more emphasis on the obstacles thwarting the disposal of Kent’s body. If going for more of a thriller, the writing should have delved into the psychological effects on the people involved as well as the darkness within the male characters. As it stands, it’s a poor representation of either genre.
Nathalie, herself, is a decent protagonist. She’s definitely naïve with terrible taste in men, but she is also smarter than given credit for, clever and highly resourceful. As she finds herself in deeper and deeper trouble, she also finds a way out of it, if only temporarily, especially in the final third of the film when she keeps having to make numerous escapes from her rapidly unraveling husband. She is a sweet girl-next-door type that, despite a likely privileged upbringing, strayed down a bad path, and seemed to encounter nothing but creeps that want to take advantage of her.
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| Nathalie (Source) |
The acting is alright. Cameron Diaz is unable to flex her comedic talents as much as I would like, being stuck in a slightly straight-man role as Keitel and Zane get to ham it up around her. She has to go for more dramatic and even traumatized as the movie progresses, but that doesn’t stop her from bringing sunshine to every scene she’s in. She also has great chemistry with Zane and Sheffer, but not enough with Keitel to make Nathalie and George a believable couple.
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| I Just Don't Buy It ... (Source) |
Billy Zane is charming and handsome as always – it’s easy to see why Nathalie and Kent had once been an item. Even when he’s being pushy and not respecting her boundaries, he’s still annoyingly likable.
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| Much More Believable (Source) |
It’s too bad he’s in so little of the movie. An easy paycheck for him but his absence is felt once Kent passes on. Still his corpse is more likable than either Lance or George, both of whom we’re stuck with for the duration of the film.
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| Yup, Still the Most Charming Man in the Movie (Source) |
Harvey Keitel will never not be intimidating. I’m not sure if the audience is supposed to be uncomfortable with him from the outset, but George never comes off as the wholesome loving husband Nathalie claims him to be. His concern appears more like condescension, but, again, this could be intentional considering how the character devolves by the end of the movie.
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| George (Source) |
Keitel does lend dark humor to the dialogue, and he makes it very obvious the judge is compensating for his insecurity about both Kent and Lance – two much younger men that want his beautiful young wife. He also seems to be having a blast portraying George’s descent into madness, mixing fun with his seemingly natural formidable persona.
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| Unhinged George (Source) |
Craig Sheffer emphasizes Lance’s apparent harmlessness and lovelorn dedication to Nathalie. He’s ever-present, always there to offer a hand to help her or a shoulder to cry on. He has his suspicions of George but makes an effort to be friendly with him for Nathalie’s benefit. He’s obsessed with her and bases all of his art on her. It’s only when Lance’s darker side briefly shows itself that Sheffer doesn’t feel as convincing.
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| Lance (Source) |
The setting of the film is beautiful, being based in and filmed off the coast of Maine. As a lifelong Mainer, it was fun seeing our gorgeous state and hearing some well-known coastal towns mentioned in a film not based on a Stephen King novel (although, Nathalie’s ordeal easily could be the plot of one.)
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| The Cottage and a Little Phippsburg Coastline (Source) |
Having spent a fair amount of time in Camden and Rockland, Nathalie and George do seem like the type of yuppie tourists that frequent the area. Lance is also often rocking the Mainer uniform of a plaid / flannel shirt, but foregoes the typical jeans for khakis – close but not quite there.
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| Lance's Version of the Mainer Wardrobe (Source) |
This mediocre dark comedy / thriller delivers few laughs and leaves the viewer curious about its Norwegian counterpart. The acting is fine, the characters range from annoying to somewhat endearing, but the likability factor definitely stems from the actors and not the writing. The setting is beautiful and the cast is talented, but the film only offers minimal entertainment.
5.5/10
