The Deep

Based on a true story, The Deep details the chaos that ensues after a fishing boat goes down off the coast of Iceland – with the movie detailing one man’s (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson’s Gulli) efforts at both surviving the wreck and adjusting to life back at home. Filmmaker Baltasar Kormakur, working from a script cowritten with Jón Atli Jónasson, does a nice job of initially emphasizing the day-to-day lives of the doomed fishermen, with the movie possessing a palpable sense of authenticity that generally does prove impossible to resist. And although Kormakur does push it in terms of buildup, The Deep recovers with a compelling midsection detailing the aforementioned sinking and Gulli’s solo exploits in the water – with the character’s wishful (and wistful) waterbound yearnings ensuring that the latter stretch packs an unexpected emotional punch. This portion of the film is so strong, in fact, that it can’t help but affect the impact of the remainder, with Kormakur’s low-key sensibilities, coupled with a curious emphasis on one doctor’s efforts at understanding just why Gulli didn’t perish, paving the way for a second half that’s watchable, to be sure, but rarely engrossing. The Deep is, in the end, a passable true-life tale that’s heightened by Kormakur’s steady direction and Ólafsson’s down-to-earth turn as the protagonist, yet the film is rarely, if ever, as captivating as one might’ve expected and/or hoped.

**1/2 out of ****