Open Water (From Penarth Times)

Open Water

While this film received critical acclaim for being shot on a shoe-string and is very obviously a labour of love, quite honestly it is totally lack-lustre.

Billed as'Jaws meets the Blair Witch Project,' it does not live up to expectations.

The film is inspired by the 1998 disappearance of Tom and Eileen Lonergan, who were left behind by their diving boat off the coast of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

The plot is quite simple. Two highly-motivated people grab a last-minute holiday together. They go on a diving expedition, where a head count is taken rather than names checked in.

Thanks to human error, the boat speeds off, leaving the hapless couple stranded.

The film has taken what little evidence of the actual disappearance exists, and supposes what happened.

And while director Chris Kentis, his wife Laura Lau, and their small crew - employed mainly on weekends - can be applauded for coming up with a very polished indie flick, it gets a bit boring.

The movie is based to a certain extent on a character analysis of two humans trapped in a desperate situation,

But after a while, two people bobbing about in a wide expanse of ocean just can't keep your interest.