Home » Reviews » Deep Water review: Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas' Amazon Original thriller is flat like fizzless soda
Deep Water review: Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas' Amazon Original thriller is flat like fizzless soda
Ana Armas’ Melinda is barely explored; the scope of her character is unfortunately just limited to her attractiveness and her being bratty in dealing with any or all relationship problems with Victor.
2.5/5
Mar 18, 2022
Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas | Image via Amazon Studios
Deep Water
Story: Victor and Melinda’s marriage is on the rocks, but they can’t seem to let each other go. Melinda then begins a series of affairs, and all the men she’s involved with mysteriously end up meeting the same fate. Is Victor the one taking them out?
Verdict: I am not married and neither am I a marriage counsellor, but I do know that extra-marital affairs are not going to help spice up your marriage unless both people are on the same page. Victor and Melinda are clearly not. Their marriage is hollow, beyond repair even; it’s clear as day that they will never go back to being the same way ever again.
So, Melinda, unhappy and unsatisfied, dates younger (and sometimes dumber) men to “feel some emotion”, to compensate for what her husband no longer gives her. Surprisingly, her affairs are not a secret, everyone in the couple’s circle knows and awkwardly watches Melinda get hot and heavy with her latest fling. Victor plays the guy cuckolded by his wife, the poor, “nice guy” not too dissimilar to Affleck’s Nick in Gone Girl.
And just like Nick in Gone Girl he’s not innocent at all. He’s seething with jealousy that’s enough to drive him to kill. The story plays out like a thriller novel, after all, it is based on Patricia Highsmith’s book of the same name, yet the Sam Levison (of Euphoria-fame) and Zachary Helm adaptation seems to have something missing to keep the audience on the edge. It’s all too predictable, the conflict between the two key players boring, plus the erotic element that’s supposed to be the defining point of the thriller is just barely exciting.
Armas’ character is barely explored, just limited to her being attractive, bratty in dealing with any or all relationship problems and only concerned with her affairs. She doesn’t have a close relationship with her daughter Trixie, whose indignation can be very evidently seen. She wonders out loud why her mother has a rotating roster of friends, why she’s always surrounded by people. Affleck’s character though if given more space in the story. He’s a dedicated father to Trixie, his turmoil is well-defined, and his bitterness at being openly cheated on is laid bare for the audience. But why the couple decided on an arrangement where the wife sought other suitors, and why their marriage reached a dead-end are questions that are never answered.
Armas and Affleck, who very publicly dated once, are like yin and yang onscreen and share surprising electric chemistry – when it comes to both good and bad stuff going down between the couple.
Deep Water marks Adrian Lyne’s comeback to direction after two decades, though like most comebacks, it does not quite itch the scratch as even a rewatch of Fatal Attraction, Unfaithful or Indecent Proposal would. The story, in spite of its contemporary touches – the source material was published in 1957 – is not fitting enough for a movie made in 2021. Additionally, instead of the messy, passive-aggressive game of emotions these two are playing, they could have just chosen to have a conversation of couple’s therapy and spared all of us including Trixie the secondhand trauma of their toxicity.
Verdict: Deep Water has nothing extraordinary to write home about.
Deep Water premieres on Amazon Prime Video on March 18. Watch the trailer here:
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Cast and Crew
Alexander Salazar
Sheenan Cole
Friend
Zach Helm
Krystal Tomlin
Bartender #2
Victoria Paige Watkins
Child
Calvin Williams
Party Guest
Elton LeBlanc
Pedestrian
Yariv Milchan
Kelly Connolly
Female Couple
William Buster Benefield
Party Guest
Juliet Brett
Chelsea
Ben Affleck
Vic Van Allen
Ana de Armas
Melinda Van Allen
Tracy Letts
Lionel
Rachel Blanchard
Maggie
LilRel Howery
Nash
Jacob Elordi
Terry
Dash Mihok
Arthur
Kristen Connolly
Jackie
Jade Fernandez
Evelyn Cowan
Finn Wittrock
Dom
Michael Braun
Jeff Peterson
Damon Lipari
Carlyle
Michael Braun
Jeff Peterson
Shauna Rappold
Other Guest's Wife
Brendan Miller
Joel Nash
Gregory Hobson
Party Guest
Jaren Mitchell
Rob Thomas
Devyn A. Tyler
Mary Washington
Jeff Pope
Chief Nichols
Jade Fernandez
Evelyn Cowan
Michael Scialabba
Kevin Washington
Armando Leduc
Other Guest
Jason Edwards
Dispatcher
Tracy Letts
Lionel
Rachel Blanchard
Maggie
LilRel Howery
Nash
Jacob Elordi
Terry
Dash Mihok
Arthur
Kristen Connolly
Jackie
Jade Fernandez
Evelyn Cowan
Finn Wittrock
Dom
Jaren Mitchell
Rob Thomas
Ben Affleck
Vic Van Allen
Michael Braun
Jeff Peterson
Devyn A. Tyler
Mary Washington
Shauna Rappold
Other Guest's Wife
Damon Lipari
Carlyle
Jeff Pope
Chief Nichols
Armando Leduc
Other Guest
Jason Edwards
Dispatcher
Anna Bruno
Caterpillar Girl
Dave Bass
Bar Patron
Giovanni Cohea
Party Kid
Marlon Hayes
Party Guest
Ana de Armas
Melinda Van Allen
Michael Scialabba
Kevin Washington
Brendan Miller
Joel Nash
Martinez
David Ricigliani
Andrew Penrow
Party Guest
Gregory Hobson
Party Guest
Anne Speed
Parent
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