Dead Calm

Nicole Kidman’s breakout role, I think. She has a lot of credits before this, but I’ve never heard of any of them. They might have been big in Australia. After this, her next role was in Days of Thunder, with soon-to-be-wacko-Scientologist hubby Tom Cruise. From there it was onward and upward. This is a dandy little thriller with only three characters (Sam Neill and Billy Zane are the others) that takes place on the high seas, in a yacht and a sinking schooner. The sea is awesomely vast; no one will be coming to anyone’s rescue. Sam and Nicole are separated, him on the sinking ship, her on the yacht with a crazy psychopath. They have to use their wits, and they do, particularly Sam. You have to overlook a few things, but the tension is sufficient that I didn’t worry about them too much. Aside from a predictable Halloween-style ending, I enjoyed it a lot.