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Dead Calm – 1989 Noyce
- 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
- Not near the top 10 of 1989 but in the archives
- Recommend
Drake2022-09-13T21:26:57+00:00
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