The Deep Blue Sea

Music Box Films | Release Date: March 23, 2012

6.3	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 52 Ratings

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AristasAug 7, 2012

This film, for me, was a bit mixed. It was very well done and shot beautifully, the only gripe I had was that I never really had an emotional connection with the characters. It was a very slow paced movie but I was expecting that going in.This film, for me, was a bit mixed. It was very well done and shot beautifully, the only gripe I had was that I never really had an emotional connection with the characters. It was a very slow paced movie but I was expecting that going in. While the film was pretty well acted for the most part it still seemed a little forced and fake. Decent film, if you like dramas/romance.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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ClariseSamuelsSep 22, 2012

The Deep Blue Sea is interminable, deadly boring, and it boggles the mind. A sensuous young woman played by Rachel Weisz is unhappily married to an older man who is kind, hard-working, and extremely wealthy. She willfully trades him in for aThe Deep Blue Sea is interminable, deadly boring, and it boggles the mind. A sensuous young woman played by Rachel Weisz is unhappily married to an older man who is kind, hard-working, and extremely wealthy. She willfully trades him in for a passionate love affair with a man who is so carefree, irresponsible, and immature that he is positively cruel, but she is so starved for stimulation that she welcomes the cruelty because she finally feels something. In fact, she feels so much that it drives her to attempt suicide, an attempt that occurs at the beginning of the film, yet afterwards, everyone feels secure enough to leave her to her own devices, when she clearly needs a psychiatrist. They had them back in 1950. Sigmund Freud set up his private practice in 1886, so they definitely had psychiatrists back in 1950. Hester's lover, Freddie, played by Tom Hiddleston, chooses to leave her after finding out about the suicide attempt the same day, or perhaps it was the next, not caring a whit that he is almost condemning her to try to kill herself again. The onscreen chemistry between Weisz and Hiddleston is not overwhelmingly genuine, despite a nude love scene where Weisz's character, Hester Collyer, stares lovingly at the sleeping Freddie and proceeds to lick his arm like an affectionate puppy. This was meant to be a sign of uncontrollable passion.

From the very first scene, Weisz, who has to carry the entire film, has a perpetual expression on her face that clearly states, "I'm not happy." The message of the film is also stated explicitly early on, in a scene where Hester and her husband, Sir William Collyer, played in an understated and expressive way by Simon Russell Beale, are dining with Hester's mother-in-law. Hester says she has no passion for tennis, and her mother-in-law warns her against passion because it always leads to something "ugly" (echoes of Shakespeare's "violent delights have violent ends"), and recommends a "guarded enthusiasm" which is safer than passion, although Hester notes that it is also duller. This brief dialogue lays down the foundational philosophy, superficial and trite though it may be, for the entire film. Anything is tolerable in a passionate, sadomasochistic relationship, as long as, heaven forbid, it isn't dull. When her devastated husband asks Hester for an explanation and wants to know what happened to her, her dreary answer is "Love, Bill, that's all." In this film, love is as welcome as a Blitzkrieg.

Weisz's performance is uneven, sometimes bordering on electric, as when she stands on the subway platform in grief and despair after Freddie hangs up on her, but often has to depend on her ability to display fleeting emotions that play across her face. She doesn't always succeed and mostly conveys a sense that she is perpetually morose. In the end, Freddie is brutal, and Hester is left abandoned and alone. At first she sobs uncontrollably, but then suddenly walks to the window and stands there--there are a lot of window-gazing scenes--with an inexplicably tranquil smile on her face. The camera pans to what appears to be wreckage still left over from the war. Does passion lead to carnage the same way war does? It's not clear that the film had enough depth, despite the title, to draw that conclusion.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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geewahJan 27, 2021

This stage play adaption starring the underrated Weisz, is a bit of a drag at times but okay.
The tale of being attracted to the shiny new toy.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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AmadouIraklidisOct 9, 2022

Overly artistic. Grainy shot throughout, no dialogue for the first couple of minutes. It's like it was trying to be a movie from the 30s or something. It's not strange at all that the critics liked it, and users find it okay. It has a sensualOverly artistic. Grainy shot throughout, no dialogue for the first couple of minutes. It's like it was trying to be a movie from the 30s or something. It's not strange at all that the critics liked it, and users find it okay. It has a sensual aspect, but otherwise it is... boring. I could have clicked off the film at any time and I would not have missed out on anything.

Seems more suited for a play rather than a movie.

Main takeaway: boring.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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