Rush Hour: “Dangerous Waters” Is An Average Thriller, With Strong Performances

01/22/2025 editor 0 Comments

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I like survival movies, especially when the protagonists attempt to stay alive in the middle of the ocean. After all, this is the most threatening environment there is. The heroes may struggle against dangerous animals (like giant sharks or Piranhas), forces of nature (including storms), monsters, murderous pirates, and sometimes even “ordinary” people who are just violent. When I went to see Dangerous Waters” without too much prior information about it, besides knowing it is a survival movie, I asked myself what the danger is in the middle of the ocean, and more importantly, will we be able to define this movie even as a horror film, or just a thriller, action movie, or whatever?

After an hour and a half of a reasonably enjoyable thriller, even if not without problems, it’s still hard for me to find a definitive answer to these questions. The bottom line of the review is that “Dangerous Waters” wasn’t too memorable. Still, thanks to an impressive performance by Israeli actress Odeya Rush in the lead role and a reasonably minimal appearance by the legendary Ray Liotta, who died during filming, you can give it a chance.

The Plot Of Dangerous Waters: Nothing New Under The Surface

“Dangerous Waters” was written and directed by John Barr, with the script he co-wrote with Mark Jackson. None of these names should tell you, the average horror fan, too much: Most of Barr’s films were made as a cinematographer or as part of a cinematography team (“Frost/Nixon,” “Greenberg”), and his resume also includes only one film as a director (and also a cinematographer, but whatever) – the suspense drama named “Allagash” with Tom Berenger.

Can we learn something about the film from this resume? I doubt. Even if the director’s inexperience is noticeable in some parts of the film, for example, in building suspense, cinematography does the job.

Odeya Rush in "Dangerous Waters" — Don’t mess with her. Odeya Rush in “Dangerous Waters” (Signature Entertainment)

The plot of “Dangerous Waters” is not too original. Alma (Saffron Burrows of “Troy,” “Deep Blue Sea,” and recent “Baghead”) lives in Florida with her daughter, Rose (Rash, “The Giver,” “Goosebumps,” “Umma,” “Lady Bird”). She decides to join her mother on an enjoyable cruise – at least on paper – with her current boyfriends, Derek (Eric Dane, “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Euphoria”). Here, a horror fan should already be suspicious because sailing for ten days at sea with a guy they’ve been dating for a few weeks (or know, based on the average “Into The Deep” we reviewed recently), and whom the daughter hasn’t met yet, doesn’t seem like the safest idea there is.

Derek gives the impression of a creepy guy hiding something, like a gun, for example. When Derek mentions that he’s a former cop and a current security consultant, the metaphoric red lights start to turn on because we know the dark side of many cops in movies of such genres. In any case, the mother’s lovable lover also tries to get closer to Rose, who turns out to be a much stricter girl than she seems. He brings her a sea knife and lets her help him navigate in the big boat.

At the same time, the relatively casual mother, who thinks she’s come to a romantic comedy and not a thriller, declares at every opportunity that she’s come to rest, drink, take pictures for Social Media, and so on.

Saffron Burrows in "Dangerous Waters" — Unlicky for her, it is not romantic. Saffron Burrows in “Dangerous Waters” (Signature Entertainment)

During these scenes, we learn about each character, with the most interesting being Rose. She understands weapons, for example, and demonstrates good shooting skills when Derek tries to teach her how to shoot. You know what they say about a gun, a pocketknife, or other weapons that appear in the first act. Somebody will have to use them some time as the film progresses.

To get you in the mood, here’s a two-minute trailer for “Dangerous Waters” which, as usual, manages to ruin some of the surprises the film has in store for viewers:

The Real Hazard: Dangerous People On Waters

At a certain point in “Dangerous Waters,” without giving away too many spoilers, things start to go wrong. It begins with a solid deception about a storm, which might confuse those who don’t know what this film is about and think this will be another low-budget disaster flick. But then bad guys arrive on the ship, shooting at several characters. Derek manages to survive but reveals more and more to Rose about who he is and his motives. As a result, the viewer is not sure that the fact that he is alive is good news for her.

In any case, from that moment on, Rose’s survival journey begins against the forces of nature, bad people on the ship, bad people on an island she manages to reach, and later more bad people on a boat headed by the menacing captain (the legendary Ray Liotta, “Goodfellas,” “Field of Dreams,” “Copland,” “Hannibal,” and more), who, according to the stories, does pretty terrible things to the women who come to the boat. He is so scary and mythological that people call him “The Captain,” not something strange like a name.

Ray Liotta in Dangerous Waters — His final role. Ray Liotta in “Dangerous Waters” (Signature Entertainment)

We need to pause for a moment and explain the absolute horror that occurred on the set of “Dangerous Waters,” shot in the Dominican Republic. One night, Liotta died in his sleep in the hotel where the crew was staying, at the age of 67. Almost a year later, it was announced that Ray Liotta death cause was “natural.” In this case, a combination of pulmonary edema, respiratory failure, atherosclerosis, and heart failure shows that he was probably not in the best of health, but that is perhaps the definition of natural death.

Since Liotta’s appearance in the film is limited and amounts to something like one scene, the creators could complete the movie without too much trouble. But there is no doubt that “Dangerous Waters” will also be remembered because it is the last film by one of Hollywood’s most beloved actors in recent decades, at least in my opinion.

Well, Not Exactly A Horror Film

Let’s return to the film, which changes direction in its final part. Let me put it this way: if I wondered while watching whether we should classify “Dangerous Waters” as a horror for an action film, at some point, it becomes an action thriller. Although the film’s title suggests otherwise, what is dangerous here is by no means the sea, although I would have liked a cameo appearance by a shark or two. The danger is not the deserted island either. However, the film’s poster is somewhat reminiscent of other island films, such as the terrible “Fantasy Island” (which was awful although Lucy Hale played on it).

“Dangerous Waters” is a survival thriller mainly against humans, with the dangers of nature existing – you know, bad weather, surviving on a deserted island, difficulties in navigating in the middle of the sea – but not getting the focus. Still, for me, a survival film can almost naturally fall into the horror category because what could be scarier than fighting for our lives in extreme conditions?

Odeya Rush does a great job in the lead role: she is innocent and childish when necessary, tough when circumstances require it (which happens quite often), and also seductive and sexy (even if the scene in which she tries to seduce the captain is far from being good in terms of writing or logic, to say the least). You can describe this film, at some parts, as a “feminine” action-packed, with a strong protagonist fighting for her life again many men, kicking their ass.

Tough is the new sexy. Odeya Rush in “Dangerous Waters” (Signature Entertainment)

Some twists along the way are predictable, others are not very believable, and the rest could be more interesting to the viewer. It would have been interesting to me to get to know the main heroine more and less about Derek’s past and present, as relevant as it is to the current plot. And a giant shark would be a great addition.

A little tightening in the script would have managed to captivate the viewers more. At the same time, there is room for improvement in credibility – for example, one character who manages to survive things only Michael Myers can.

As the film progresses, it loses a bit of its plot. It might have been right to leave it as a feature film with a limited number of characters, even two or three, with changes in the dynamics between them, plus revelations that are genuinely relevant to the struggle between life and death. In practice, we get the “bad guys” backstory that is not developed enough, with a few subplots like kidnapped young women in the same boat. In these steps, the film goes in a slightly more bombastic direction, significantly less believable. I prefer horror (like that) or suspense over action, especially when it is not a film with a bombastic budget that results in breathtaking scenes.

Should You Watch Dangerous Waters?

“Dangerous Waters” is a survival thriller that is difficult to claim to be too memorable. It is intended mainly for home viewing, while the cinematic contribution was minimal globally. It got, for example, screenings in theaters in Israel (primarily thanks to Odeya Rush, of course), and it earned a significant portion of its limited profits in Russia: about $146,000 out of something like $309,000 in total theater revenue.

Still, suppose you’re looking for a movie to pass an hour and a half without making too much of a commitment, with an impressive performance by a talented actress in the lead role and a brief but symbolic appearance in the career of a cinematic legend. In that case, giving “Dangerous Waters” a chance is worth it.