THE DEEP BLUE SEA ( 2011 ) – The Review

No, this is not a remake of the Samuel L. Jackson brain-enhanced killer sharks thriller. THE DEEP BLUE SEA is actually a new screen adaptation of a stage work more than sixty years old by Terence Rattigan as part of a centennial celebration of the noted British playwright. It’s set just a few years after the end of World War II and could very well have been made in the waning years of Hollywood’s Golden Age . This might be considered a ” woman’s picture ” back in the day and starred Bette Davis or Joan Crawford ( maybe at that time it would be Deborah Kerr or Olivia DeHaviland ). Going back to the early talkies romantic dramas were big earners for the studios in the days before male-dominated action flicks took over . An intimate study focusing on the female protagonist is rare these days. Of course certain elements of this story couldn’t have been tackled in those Production Code days. So can the themes of this decades old play still resonate ?

Well as the song in CASABLANCA says, ” It’s still the same old story. A fight for love and glory…”. Although, in the first scene , all  the fighting of WWII is over. In 1947 Hester ( Rachel Weisz ) shares a modest flat with her younger lover, ex-RAF pilot Freddie ( Tom Hiddleston ). As the film opens, the affair’s downward spiral compels Eve to take desperate measures. Flashbacks reveal that Eve is separated from her much older husband Sir William ( Simon Russell Seale ), a prominent judge. In another sequence we see Freddie’s random meeting  with Hester and their whirlwind, passionate fling. During a weekend with her husband’s cruel, controlling mother the affair is revealed. Sir William will let her go, but he will not grant her a divorce. Hester leaves her lavish lifestyle to move in with the directionless Freddie. It turns out that he does not love her with the same the same fiery passion that she has for him. Loneliness envelops her during the long days when Freddie travels and searches for employment. After her desperate act, Sir William returns. Eve must quickly make a decision about these men and her future.

The film is lifted up by a terrific cast, although the drama really rests on the very talented ( and lovely ) shoulders of Ms.Weisz. After making a name for herself in the first two Mummy flicks, it’s great to see her flexing her acting muscles in more demanding dramatic work. Weisz gives us a portrait of a woman floundering in a stale marriage. When she meets Freddie, her joy almost bursts out of the screen. This makes her crash back to Earth even more shattering. Hiddleston, perhaps best known as the evil Loki in THOR, makes a dashing young lover who relishes those glory days fighting the good fight. He finds life out of the clouds dull and dreary. It’s startling to see this happy-go-lucky chap turn into a man frustrated by a postwar world and by a woman who wants more from him than he can give. On the other hand Beale’s Sir William should be the cold villain of the piece, but he elicits great sympathy as man still desiring a woman who has no desire for him. No mere cuckhold, Sir William is a caring, but still proud man. Kudos to Barbara Jefford as his mother. Her verbal sparing with Weisz in the early scenes really crackle with energy. Ann Mitchell is also very strong as Hester’s stern, but nurturing landlady. The costumes and art direction are superb along with the cinematography. We get a glimpse of pub life in a couple of spirited sing-a-longs along with a look at wartime London. There’s an impressive shot of Hester and Sir William waiting out a bombing raid along with several other Brits in a subway tunnel. Unfortunately the rest of the film shows its stage roots with long, staid dialogue scenes with little editing. Because of this the last act moves almost at a snail’s pace. Fortunately the ensemble does their best to blow the cobwebs off this play and shows us that sometimes the lovers don’t always live happily ever after or  ” as time goes by…”.

Overall Rating: 3.5 Out of 5 Stars