This is a tight three-actor thriller that is very well done but is nearly booted out of the archives with a god-awful ending **spoiler**– I mean pick literally any other way for Billy Zane to die than the ridiculous flare that lights up his face
It’s the first archiveable film for a very young Nicole Kidman (age 22) and she’s excellent here- the heavy close-up usage by Noyce (also his first in archives) lends itself to the performances (Zane and Sam Neiil are good as well). It’s her show- and she’s an absolute star in the making- more than just a pretty face, long legs and that wild hair jumping around the boat for 90 minutes
Bit of a knife in the water and straw dogs but with a feminist twice—neill is a sailor and basically helpless and left for kidman to save
Noyce shows skill at here and would go on to do clear and present danger
Zane is surprisingly good as the handsome sociopath
Very nice tough with the meaningful (and hard) prologue back-story prior to the thriller setting to show that these two have been through it all- particularly kidman
There are some narrative flaws here that are left subservient (impractically to the suspense)—like her refusal to kill zane
[…] Dead Calm – Noyce […]