Dangerous Waters (2023)

1 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Schlock the Boat

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Aside from decent acting and cinematography, this frustrating thriller is one of those movies in which the characters are either excruciatingly dim, or terrible at hiding their true motivations.

Alma (Saffron Burrows) is a struggling single mother, living with her daughter Rose (Odeya Rush), both working crummy jobs just to get by. Alma receives an invitation from her new boyfriend, Derek (Eric Dane), to go on a sailing trip for ten days, just the three of them. At first things seem OK, until the trio are attacked by mysterious pirates and left for dead, drifting on the ocean. It's up to Rose to pull together all her courage and all her fight to save the day.

Everyone who has ever seen more than a few movies will know straight away that the vacation planned in Dangerous Waters is a bad idea. The Alma character is completely clueless, while at least Rose has sense enough to be wary. But she's not wary enough. Even though she's introduced as being smart, she still lets herself be fooled by the most ridiculous ploys. And there's just no hiding that the character that's supposed to be good is really bad.

The movie comes alive for five brief minutes in the third act as Rose faces off with the late Ray Liotta, playing "The Captain," the evil leader of a human trafficking ring. She plays coy and flirts with him, and he gives his line readings a silky menace that makes them a masterpiece of camp. But unfortunately, things return to foolishness as Rose turns into the action hero we see her watching in a generic movie on TV.

In the end, Dangerous Waters seems to suggest that if you watch enough action movies, you will have the ability to beat up as many villains as you want. Unfortunately, if you watch this movie, you may run the risk of losing brain cells.