Into the Blue (Film Review)

2005 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Columbia Pictures
Directed by: John Stockwell; Written by: Matt Johnson
Starring: Paul Walker, Jessica Alba, Scott Caan, Ashley Scott, Josh Brolin, and James Frain
MPAA Rating: PG-13; Running Time: 110 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 6/10

Jared and Samantha live in idyllic bliss. Jared just doesn't realize it. The romantic duo reside in a trailer on the beach in the Bahamas. By day, Sam works at an aquatic theme park, while Jared finds work as a diver. At night, they're together in their little shack by the sea. Sam loves Jared and is happy as a clam. Restless Jared has dreams of diving shipwrecks and making a fortune, like rival Derek, who's got a booming treasure-hunting business. One day, Jared's old friend, Bryce, shows up with a nice boat and a brand new, mysterious girlfriend, Amanda. Jared, Sam, Bryce, and Amanda take the boat out, and what do you know, they discover what might be the shipwreck treasure of a lifetime...but it's right next to a recently crashed, currently missing plane full of cocaine. If Jared reports the plane, they'll lose access to their undersea treasure trove. If he doesn't, the drugs might fall into the wrong hands. What's a guy with big dreams to do?
Here is the true gist of Into the Blue.
1. Paul Walker (Jared) and 2. Jessica Alba (Sam) look good in bathing suits (their navels feature into every one of Into the Blue's advertisements).
3. The undersea views around the Bahamas are stunning.
Into the Blue director, John Stockwell, makes sure to keep his camera focused on those three things, often at the same time. I won't comment further on the aesthetics of Walker and Alba, but the underwater footage Stockwell captured for Into the Blue is unbelievably beautiful. Cinematographers, Shane Hurlbut and Peter Zuccarini, can put this Into the Blue feather in their caps, and be proud of it for rest of their lives. Films set underwater can often be disorienting or drag along (I left the room watching the climax of Thunderball 25 years ago, and I think the scene is still going), but in Into the Blue, the beautiful footage is cut together flawlessly by editors Nicolas De Toth and Dennis Virkleri. Into the Blue is  a visual treat.
As far as substance, screenwriter, Matt Johnson, takes major cues from Peter Benchley's The Deep, whose 1977 cinematic interpretation follows some of the same visual cues, as well. The story is nothing to write home about, with most of the major twists telegraphed a mile away. As far as acting, Walker and Alba were never going to win any awards for their work here, but they both have their own particular kind of charisma. Walker especially works that weird older brother thing he could pull off, where even though he's a bit wooden, you still want to follow him around. This duo look like movie stars, while Josh Brolin, a couple years away from injecting his career with Coen Brothers steroids, hams it up to the utmost as the slimy Derek.
This is the mid-00's. Into the Blue isn't deep. It's not particularly smart or inventive in any way. It does hint at a deeper "white people spoiling the riches of another country" theme, but doesn't follow through. This is just mind-numbing entertainment with beautiful visuals, breezing through its 110 minutes. There's a place for that. If Into the Blue is on during a lazy Saturday afternoon, I'm not changing the channel. Every movie can't be No Country for Old Men.