but come to think of it, he was dumb enough to get on a fucking dinghy and row a mile away to board a sinking sail boat. They both had the IQ in comparison with a 6 foot inflatable clown. There's simply no excuse
You're blowing this way out of proportion. John & Rae made a questionable decision, but they had to verify Hughie's story before pulling a weapon on him and taking him to the authorities. Moreover, Hughie was obviously a formidable
con man, an expert at duping people and taking advantage of the situation. How else was he able to successfully kill everyone aboard the sail boat and remain unscathed?
So John & Rae made a questionable decision in a challenging situation, whoopee; it happens every day. And by very intelligent people.
As far as I'm concerned, "Dead Calm" is one of the greatest horror/thrillers ever made. The "monster" is human – a psycho nut job -- which isn't anything new, of course. It's the confined location of the open sea and the cut-off-from-civilization atmosphere that make "Dead Calm" great, along with all-around excellent filmmaking, including the breathtaking cinematography and magnificent score by Graeme Revell.
Neill showed that he has the gravitas to carry a film as the male protagonist, which is why he was snagged for 1993's "Jurassic Park." Kidman similarly shined as the female protagonist in her first major motion picture. Incidentally, Neill was 41 and Kidman 21 at the time of filming.
Meanwhile Zane de-shines as the antagonist and shows why he was picked for the villain of 1997's "Titanic." There's not much dialogue because this is a visually/musically-based film and not dialogue-driven. As such, the acting HAS to be convincing, and so it is.
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mooville (32)
4 years ago
Hughie was obviously a formidable con man, an expert at duping people and taking advantage of the situation. How else was he able to successfully kill everyone aboard the sail boat and remain unscathed?
We actually don't know ANYTHING about Zane's character, or if he even killed ANYBODY! Zane's character had absolutely ZERO development, the only indication that he may have killed the girls on the sail boat is the dead bodies in the sinking sail boat he was rowing away from and some retarded footage that was running that made no sense whatsoever. I'm assuming it was supposed to give some sort of indication that he was some sort of weirdo, but who cares? We're left to guess on if he's really the one behind the dead bodies and what really happened on the boat.
So John & Rae misread the situation and made a bad decision, whoopee; it happens every day. And by very intelligent people.
No, I'm sorry.. But even Neill' character had half a brain to notify the audience that he didn't trust Zane's character after they put him in his room, but he left his stupid fucking wife there with him anyway to make the most stupidest fucking decisions imaginable. I don't know anyone in my life that's dumb enough to automatically trust some person they didn't know the way these morons did.. It's like ignoring a "Do not pick up hitch-hikers" sign outside of a prison that the state has always warned us not to do..
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Wuchak (8079)
4 years ago
We actually don't know ANYTHING about Zane's character, or if he even killed ANYBODY! Zane's character had absolutely ZERO development
As the story progresses it becomes clear that
Hughie is a psycho murderer. The writer expects the viewer to put 2 + 2 together. Besides, mystery is a good thing in these kinds of stories. Spelling everything out mars the experience.
But even Neill' character had half a brain to notify the audience that he didn't trust Zane's character after they put him in his room, but he left his stupid fucking wife there with him anyway to make the most stupidest fucking decisions imaginable.
John
was suspicious of Hughie's story and so rows over to the other ship to verify it, leaving Rae alone with a knocked out Hughie. He thought he had enough time to go over to the other ship and return before Hughie awakened. It was a mistake, but what else was he going to do, pull a spear-gun on Hughie and sail to the closest authorities which was probably days away? It was an awkward, challenging situation and he had to make a quick choice, which he did. He understandably felt he had to verify that Hughie was guilty of something criminal before pulling a weapon on him and forcing him to authorities.
Again, people make decisions that aren't the best all the time. It's easy to sit on your couch and make a wiser, braver decision.
In short, it was realistic.
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