2 reviews
**SPOILERS** Very confusing movie that covers all the bases, infidelity betrayal murder and a dark past, thats as muddled as the bottom of the bay where the suitcase of money was dumped in the film.
Two brothers Ben & Don as well as Ben's old lady Sara are out fishing one night and spot a light out at sea. Hiding in their boat with the light turned off they see something drooped into the water. When the other boat is gone they dredge out of the sea a suitcase that contains some $500,000.00 is stolen cash.
Ben who wasn't getting along that well with his wife Sara then goes to the local village bar and lives it up with his new found wealth which only draws attention to himself by the mobsters who deep sixth the suitcase. Ben's big mouth makes things not only hot for him but the hood, Quinlan, who hid and then lost the loot.
With the head mobster Sam who only seems to know three words in the English language, "Where's My Money!", as mad as hell to what happened to his money has Quinlan and his boys put on the hook to get the money back or else! Besides all this we see that the lovable couple Ben & Sara aren't exactly law-abiding citizens themselves.
It's not quite fully explained by the movie but it seems that Sara and Ben murdered her first husband Stu five years ago by shoving him down a flight of stairs. Sara made her husbands death look accidental by drenching him with a bottle of booze. The two lovebirds also collected a sizable amount of money from the insurance company that covered Stu's life.
Later this mysterious blond Kim shows up and again were not quite sure just who she is. It seems that she's Stu's daughter as well as Quinlan's wife or girlfriend and knows about Sara, from an old diary of hers, and Ben being responsible for the murder of her father.
The movie goes on with the on the lamb Quinlan getting hooked up with Sara in a plot to murder her husband Ben, who's always abusing her, and taking off with the cash that he has hidden in the couples house. Quinlan and Sara finish off Ben at sea and then sink the boat making it look, Ben's death, like it was a accident.
Back at the house both Sara and Quinlan realize that Ben hid the money too well for them to find and before you know it Sam's gang are at the house also looking for it and trying to do in Quinlan. The movie ends with a car and speedboat chase a shootout where both Quinlan and Ben's brother Don are killed and the crazed Sam is finally shot by his own men when they just had all that they could take from him bellowing "Where's My Money" every ten seconds with then Sara, who earlier found the missing $500,000.00, taken hostage by Kim.
Both Kim & Sara now airborne, Sara is an experienced pilot, and out of trouble seem to have gotten away with murder. Kim takes a swig out of a bottle of champaign to celebrate and we sense that as soon as the plane lands she'll knock off Sara and take the stolen money! What Kim doesn't know is that the champaign is laced with the deadly cleaner fluid Draino! And they say crime doesn't pay? it did for Sara in the movie "Dark Tides".
Two brothers Ben & Don as well as Ben's old lady Sara are out fishing one night and spot a light out at sea. Hiding in their boat with the light turned off they see something drooped into the water. When the other boat is gone they dredge out of the sea a suitcase that contains some $500,000.00 is stolen cash.
Ben who wasn't getting along that well with his wife Sara then goes to the local village bar and lives it up with his new found wealth which only draws attention to himself by the mobsters who deep sixth the suitcase. Ben's big mouth makes things not only hot for him but the hood, Quinlan, who hid and then lost the loot.
With the head mobster Sam who only seems to know three words in the English language, "Where's My Money!", as mad as hell to what happened to his money has Quinlan and his boys put on the hook to get the money back or else! Besides all this we see that the lovable couple Ben & Sara aren't exactly law-abiding citizens themselves.
It's not quite fully explained by the movie but it seems that Sara and Ben murdered her first husband Stu five years ago by shoving him down a flight of stairs. Sara made her husbands death look accidental by drenching him with a bottle of booze. The two lovebirds also collected a sizable amount of money from the insurance company that covered Stu's life.
Later this mysterious blond Kim shows up and again were not quite sure just who she is. It seems that she's Stu's daughter as well as Quinlan's wife or girlfriend and knows about Sara, from an old diary of hers, and Ben being responsible for the murder of her father.
The movie goes on with the on the lamb Quinlan getting hooked up with Sara in a plot to murder her husband Ben, who's always abusing her, and taking off with the cash that he has hidden in the couples house. Quinlan and Sara finish off Ben at sea and then sink the boat making it look, Ben's death, like it was a accident.
Back at the house both Sara and Quinlan realize that Ben hid the money too well for them to find and before you know it Sam's gang are at the house also looking for it and trying to do in Quinlan. The movie ends with a car and speedboat chase a shootout where both Quinlan and Ben's brother Don are killed and the crazed Sam is finally shot by his own men when they just had all that they could take from him bellowing "Where's My Money" every ten seconds with then Sara, who earlier found the missing $500,000.00, taken hostage by Kim.
Both Kim & Sara now airborne, Sara is an experienced pilot, and out of trouble seem to have gotten away with murder. Kim takes a swig out of a bottle of champaign to celebrate and we sense that as soon as the plane lands she'll knock off Sara and take the stolen money! What Kim doesn't know is that the champaign is laced with the deadly cleaner fluid Draino! And they say crime doesn't pay? it did for Sara in the movie "Dark Tides".
I feel bad for Paige Turco. Whatever else is true of her career, she was in the second and third live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies (April O'Neil!), which makes her notable in at least some small sense. She gives the best performance of anyone here. How did she come to be involved in a film as dubious as 'Dark tides?'
The opening sequence is disjointed and unconvincing. There's exactly one likable character in this, and it's the one that Turco portrays. Scene writing and dialogue are as repugnant and unbelievable as the characters. The narrative is, at one point or another, predictable, questionable, untenable, common, blunt, bland, and/or unnecessary, and the sequencing strains suspension of disbelief. There were absolutely a couple instances where I just had to stop and wonder what was going on, what the writer was possibly thinking - there are multiple antagonistic figures here, and it's unclear how they are connected to one another, or what their stake is. On the other hand, 'Dark tides' can actually claim a couple good ideas - even noir-esque overtones! - but they center entirely around Sara (Turco) as a sympathetic character, and if the picture is sadly troubled even where that theme is spotlighted, then when it's not it becomes dull and tiresome. These negative descriptors also apply at large to the performances: whether it's owing to thin material, poor direction, inherent lack of skill, or some combination thereof, much of the acting is flimsy and weak, always either underwhelming or overcooked but never meaningfully finding a happy middle ground.
The cinematography is suitable, but sound design is deficient. Daniel Gold's score is okay, but the "popular songs" that round out the soundtrack are abhorrent and unlistenable. Basic camerawork and lighting both waver on a point between adequate and unsatisfactory. The few stunts and effects that we see look good. Yet what value the feature has to offer is wildly insufficient to carry it through. Why, when a lie is told in the narrative, it's emphatically the least credible one! There's so much about 'Dark tides' that is just tawdry, and at times it almost seems like it's actively declining the most fruitful path.
This was hardly a well-known, recognized title upon release in 1998, so of all the ways one may chance upon it, random happenstance seems to be the order of the day. Whatever the circumstances, I can only apologize to Turco - you deserved better. We, as viewers, deserve better. There was potential here, but for one reason or another, it just didn't completely pan out. By all means, there are still worse pictures you could spend your time watching; the climax is executed well enough that I begin to reevaluate my opinion. Yet unless you're an utmost fan of Turco, or deeply curious, there's just not much of a reason to watch 'Dark tides.'
Most recommendable for an extra lazy day.
The opening sequence is disjointed and unconvincing. There's exactly one likable character in this, and it's the one that Turco portrays. Scene writing and dialogue are as repugnant and unbelievable as the characters. The narrative is, at one point or another, predictable, questionable, untenable, common, blunt, bland, and/or unnecessary, and the sequencing strains suspension of disbelief. There were absolutely a couple instances where I just had to stop and wonder what was going on, what the writer was possibly thinking - there are multiple antagonistic figures here, and it's unclear how they are connected to one another, or what their stake is. On the other hand, 'Dark tides' can actually claim a couple good ideas - even noir-esque overtones! - but they center entirely around Sara (Turco) as a sympathetic character, and if the picture is sadly troubled even where that theme is spotlighted, then when it's not it becomes dull and tiresome. These negative descriptors also apply at large to the performances: whether it's owing to thin material, poor direction, inherent lack of skill, or some combination thereof, much of the acting is flimsy and weak, always either underwhelming or overcooked but never meaningfully finding a happy middle ground.
The cinematography is suitable, but sound design is deficient. Daniel Gold's score is okay, but the "popular songs" that round out the soundtrack are abhorrent and unlistenable. Basic camerawork and lighting both waver on a point between adequate and unsatisfactory. The few stunts and effects that we see look good. Yet what value the feature has to offer is wildly insufficient to carry it through. Why, when a lie is told in the narrative, it's emphatically the least credible one! There's so much about 'Dark tides' that is just tawdry, and at times it almost seems like it's actively declining the most fruitful path.
This was hardly a well-known, recognized title upon release in 1998, so of all the ways one may chance upon it, random happenstance seems to be the order of the day. Whatever the circumstances, I can only apologize to Turco - you deserved better. We, as viewers, deserve better. There was potential here, but for one reason or another, it just didn't completely pan out. By all means, there are still worse pictures you could spend your time watching; the climax is executed well enough that I begin to reevaluate my opinion. Yet unless you're an utmost fan of Turco, or deeply curious, there's just not much of a reason to watch 'Dark tides.'
Most recommendable for an extra lazy day.
- I_Ailurophile
- May 26, 2022
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