Susan Granger’s review of “Deep Water” (20th Century Studios/Hulu)
Director Adrian Lyne built his reputation on kinky, erotic thrillers like “9 ½ Weeks,” “Fatal Attraction,” “Indcent Proposal,” and “Unfaithful,” so it’s not surprising that he capitalized on the off-camera romance between Ben Affleck and Ana de Armas to take advantage of their sexual chemistry in this sizzler.
Problem is: as a psychosexual whodunit, the perverse plot makes no sense whatever.
Flamboyant Melinda (Ana de Armas) must be a nymphomaniac because she devotes most of her waking hours to promiscuous seduction – lasciviously taunting and teasing her husband, wealthy tech whiz Vic Van Allen, (Ben Affleck), or a series of hapless lovers.
Wherever sultry Melinda goes, she’s on the prowl for her next paramour. One of her recent conquests, Malcolm McRae, has gone missing and Vic claims to have killed him. That shocks but doesn’t discourage Joel (Brendan C. Miller), Charlie (Jacob Elordi) or Tony (Finn Wittrock).
Meanwhile, Vic takes long rides on his mountain bike, tends his collection of slimy, intertwining snails, and looks after their precocious young daughter Trixie (Grace Jenkins). Although his buddy (Lil Rel Howery) warns him that Melinda’s brazen behavior is out of control, emasculated Vic seems so complacent that he’s barely conscious.
“What if your concerns aren’t my concerns?” Vic counters.
But then a skeptical local writer Don Wilson (Tracy Letts) becomes a bit too suspicious.
Based on Patricia Highsmith’s 1957 novel, it was previously filmed as a 1981 French version “Eaux Profodes” with Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Louis Trintignant. This sluggish adaptation by Zach Helm (“Stranger Than Fiction”) and Sam Levinson (“Euphoria”) strips away all devious subtlety and emotional complexity.
When Disney acquired 20th Century Fox (as it was called then), there was no way this New Regency film could be released under the Disney banner, so it was dumped on Hulu. Ben Affleck was much better in “Duel” & “The Tender Bar,” as was Ana de Armas in “Knives Out” & “No Time to Die.”
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Deep Water” sinks to a dreadful 3, streaming on Hulu.
