Film Review: Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston Bare Their Souls in ‘The Deep Blue Sea’

Submitted by BrianTT on March 30, 2012 - 10:45am

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Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Terence Davies’ “The Deep Blue Sea” has been earning raves around the world for its dramatic portrayal of doomed love. Personally, I found the film more inert than engaging but the two lead performances are so consistently powerful that the talent of their performers ultimately drew me into this depressing whirlpool. It’s not the film it could have been but the sheer skill of the great Rachel Weisz and the great Tom Hiddleston make it a film worth seeing.

Based on the play by Terence Rattigan, “Deep Blue Sea” is a slow descent into the mud of a passion that can only end in tragedy. In fact, the film starts in tragedy as it opens with the suicide attempt of Hester Collyer (Weisz). Most of the rest of the piece is told in flashback as we learn how Hester got to such a devastated place emotionally (and her mental state is artfully mirrored by 1950s London, a landscape still recovering from the physical impact of World War II.) There was a time when Hester was happy (although even the happiest days in “The Deep Blue Sea” feel weighed down with impending melancholy).

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “The Deep Blue Sea” in our reviews section.

Hester was once married to the much-older Sir William Collyer (Simon Russell Beale), a judge who seems like a relatively nice guy but offers stability, not passion. Hester finds the passion in Freddie Page (Hiddleston), an RAF pilot dealing with deep post-traumatic stress disorder at a time when such a thing wasn’t widely recognized. Freddie is the opposite of William – younger, vibrant, dangerous – and Hester is drawn to him in a way she can’t control. The best thing about “The Deep Blue Sea” is the way in which Davies, Weisz, and Hiddleston present these people as characters drawn into a relationship in a way that is completely beyond intellect or control. They have no say over whether or not they will become lovers or what that will do to their lives. It is inevitability. And, unlike most romantic dramas, the fate that pulls lovers together isn’t always kind.

Continue reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “The Deep Blue Sea” review.

“The Deep Blue Sea” stars Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston, and Simon Russell Beale. It was written and directed by Terence Davies and opens in Chicago on March 30th, 2012. It is rated R.