The Dive from Clausen's Pier

I haven't read the book, but even so, I thought the movie was far from good. It's supposed to be... well, the movie doesn't make that all too clear. We learn that main character Carrie wants to become something else, and that's about it. From reading other comments, though, I've learned that it is supposed to be about a young woman's journey to find herself and face her demons. I'm not sure about WHAT demons...

The movie, in short, is about Carrie's boyfriend Mike breaking his back diving, and Carrie breaking up with him (not because of the injury) and going off to New York to get a life, so to speak. She meets supposedly mysterious 35-year-old Kilroy and they become a couple. Then everybody leads complicated lives for a while, and she finally goes home - although the movie does not reveal for what reasons.

This movie confused me a bit right from the start, mostly because of the very young appearances of the characters; in the opening scenes we see Carrie (Michelle Trachtenberg) and her boyfriend, and him giving her a ring, at the same time as her voice tells the story of their several years long relationship - and the first thought that popped into my head was: "So, you met when you were like 9?" Sadly, in my opinion, she never rises to the challenge of portraying a young woman in this movie, but stays on a teenager-trying-to-act-adult level (it doesn't help that she looks and sounds like 15-16), which makes a lot of her lines and her relationship with Kilroy literally unbelievable. She's too young to play the part.

Meanwhile, Kilroy (Sean Maher) is, I guess, supposed to be this mysterious, secretive handsome stranger, but to me he seems exaggerated and a bit over-acted. Also, there doesn't seem to be the least bit of chemistry between him and Michelle Trachtenberg. I'd guess they were brother and kid sister sooner than lovers.

All in all, the movie felt unnecessary. Nothing that pulled me in and kept me concentrated, but rather something to mindlessly doze to. We never get to see past the surface of any character, and the story is high-paced in a bad way.

'The Dive From Clausen's Pier' is the story of Carrie, a young woman who takes off to New York after her fiancé, Mike Mayor, is paralyzed in a diving accident. Although, the accident isn't the real reason she leaves. Even before the accident, her feelings for Mike were slipping. She does what she feels she has to, to find happiness. – The story itself is less than appealing to me, so this obviously isn't my type of movie. But in spite of that, I still managed to enjoy it.

Trachtenberg (Carrie) puts on a surprisingly good performance. Coming into the movie I was honestly expecting her to be the weakest link. On top of her less than stellar performance in EuroTrip, she was also the worst character ever conceived on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But she managed to pull off a wonderful performance, particularly at the beginning of the movie. Will Estes (Mike Mayor) also put on a great performance; they played off of each other really well. In my opinion, Will and Michelle had a lot more chemistry than Michelle and Sean (who plays Killroy). That's where the movie starts slipping a bit, Carrie's relationship with Killroy is a bit unrealistic, not to mention lame. The entire "Killroy hiding something from Carrie" arc was pretty annoying. It's just, after the first 30 minutes, the rest of the movie falls flat for me. I enjoy stories where people are forced to deal with things, not run away from them. Which is why I enjoyed the ending too, but it didn't seem as poignant as it should be. The monologue at the end, which was supposed to be a beautiful sentiment, was actually lame to no end.

Even so, the movie wasn't nearly as horrible as I thought it was going to be. It's above average in terms of TV movies, but that really isn't saying much.

4.5

I read the novel "The Dive from Clausen's Pier" and found it to be heart-wrenching and a great look into the mind of a torn young woman. The Lifetime movie just chopped it up, altered it horribly and left me appalled. If you have not read the book and watch the movie, fine. But if you've read the book....I recommend not watching the movie. If you must though, be warned. There was so much richness in the book and important moments and character development that the movie skips over and alters. Originally the character was named Carrie Bell in the book and the movie changes her to Carrie Beal...not a huge deal, but that is the gateway for all the changes in the plot. I understand films adapt books into the given time slots, but this movie wasn't adapted but more of chopped up and shoved into a formulaic display of scenes that do not capture half of the emotional journey Carrie undergoes. The most difficult part of the movie was the rapid progression of time that is never explained or detailed well. Carrie seems to always be wearing the same clothes so distinguishing the passage of time and seasons is difficult. If you must watch this movie...supplement the choppy pace and lack of depth with reading the novel.

I didn't read the book, didn't even know there was 1 till I got on here, sorry. Just got the movie for Will, he did a good job in fact I just fast forward through the whole movie just to see his scenes. Other than that the film isn't worth it. Michelle is just to fake and she kisses weird in this movie. They said that Will actually tried to study how to be paralyzed for the movie. Thanks to the other views I actually found out if they get back together or not cause the movie ends terribly, and you don't know for sure if they do or not just watching the movie. I didn't even realize it was a Lifetime movie, I don't care for Lifetime or Hallmark, they're all basically the same movie different characters/settings.

This is the first time I have seen Michelle Trachtenberg in an adult role. She still looks like a cute kid but her acting talent puts her into the character as a twenty-something. Probably not an Emmy role but notable just the same. The gal is good!

The DP got the angles and lighting right, but a note to the costume designer and/or director: She looks good in colors other than black.

The story did have a few interesting turns. I can see why it was a best selling book...and why it was made into to a Lifetime movie. If you like them (I do), you will like this one, too. The ending (and Michelle) left me begging for a sequel or maybe a short series.