The Shallows

The Shallows

Starring Blake Lively, Oscar Jaenada, Angela Corzo, Brett Cullen

Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra

The Story:
Nancy (Blake Lively) is a medical school dropout who heads to Mexico to find a secret beach that her recently deceased mother went to in order to surf.  She finds the small piece of paradise and she's having the time of her life - remembering her mother, surfing the waves, and enjoying her time.  That is, until a shark bites her leg.  She manages to swim to a small bunch of rocks as the shark menacingly circles her, and she has very little time to come up with a way to escape before the shark kills her, or she dies from the elements.

The Synopsis:
When I thought about "The Shallows," I just pictured a lazy tale that centers around one extremely attractive woman with mediocre acting talent parading around in a bathing suit and pretending to be frightened by a baby shark.  Thankfully, sometimes my imagination far under-exceeds expectations, and what I got instead was a tight, taunt thriller that doesn't have much filler with a very capable lead actress.

What makes "The Shallows" an interesting film is that it rests entirely on the talent of the lead actress, because there's pretty much no one else she can work off of, she has to rely on her own acting abilities to draw the viewer in and make them feel for her.  Think Tom Hanks in "Cast Away," and you can grasp the importance the lead has in delivering a great film.

Blake Lively takes only her second starring film role (her first was the underrated "Age of Adeline"), and if it were in other hands (*cough*JessicaAlba*cough*) then the film would've ended up like my expectations.  Sure, Blake Lively is very attractive and she sports a two-piece like no other, but she also gives an intelligent performance that shows fear, but also determination and spunk, with a dash of sarcastic humor.  She arrives at a secluded beach in Mexico to surf and remember her mother who passed away from cancer, and runs afoul of a deadly female shark that's downright terrifying in its relentless nature to capture her prey. 

After she is bit, she finds safety on a small set of rocks, but still too far from shore.  Her only companion is an injured seagull - whom she marvelously names Steven Seagull (get it?) - and just like Wilson for Tom Hanks, Steven is Nancy's fodder.  You root not just for Nancy's safety, but Steven's as well, and that's no easy feat to care for a crippled bird's life.  The two share funny banter, as Steven squawks and Nancy - already weakened from the bite - weakly tells him to shut up.  The two would do great in a comedy movie.

The shark continues its stalking when it sees morsels of other meals in the form of other surfers and a drunk man whom Nancy tries to warn, but is unsuccessful.  The shark is a compelling character in its own right, as we don't see it full-on, but how Nancy would see it.  At times you just see the menacing fin flying over the water.  At other times its a dark shadow hovering under the water, and then you see it in all its terrifying glory as it tries to take a bite out of our heroine. 

If I could find any fault, it's in the CGI of the shark at certain moments.  It's barely above a SyFy Original movie, and slightly distracted me from the story, but thankfully those were very few moments in an otherwise excellent outing.

Ultimately, the film is a pas de deux of two forces of nature: a shark who has only the desire to feed, and a human whose only desire is to make it out alive.  Nancy showcases some amazing calculations in trying to make it from one point to the other, and even uses traps to make sure her path is free.  It's thrilling because it doesn't focus on needless add-ons, but its pure (wo)man vs. nature at its finest. 

The Summary:
With the very capable Blake Lively as the lead, "The Shallows" rises above what could've been a boring story and delivers a thrilling, fast-paced adventure that focuses solely on the battle between man and beast.

The Score: A