Movie Review: The Weight of Water

The Weight of Water (2002) 

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Written by Alice Arlen, Christopher Kyle 

Starring Sean Penn, Sarah Polley, Elizabeth Hurley, Catherine McCormack,

Release Date November 1st, 2002 

Published February 23rd, 2002 

On the Isles of Shoals, off the coast of New Hampshire, a murder was committed. Two women are killed and a man stands accused of a crime he did not commit. It was 1873 and though nowadays double murders barely make people blink, in New Hampshire in 1873 this was the OJ trial. The so-called Smuttynose murders became the background to a best-selling novel, "The Weight Of Water," which has now been adapted for the screen starring Sean Penn and Catherine McCormack. Like most books to film, it's a safe bet the book was better.

McCormack is the film's lead, Jean, a photographer who is using a weekend visit to the Isles of Shoals to do a work assignment, but also using the romantic surroundings to reconnect with her Pulitzer Prize-winning poet husband, Thomas. Accompanying them on the boat trip is Thomas's brother Rich (Josh Lucas) and his new girlfriend Addeline (Elizabeth Hurley). Jean is on the Isle to get photographs of the place where the area's most famous murders took place.

As the story goes, a Norwegian immigrant named Maren Hontvet (Sarah Polley) and her husband John (Ulrich Thompson) are a fishing family living on the Isle with Maren's sister Karen (Katrin Cartlidge), their brother Evan (Anders W. Berthelsen), and his wife Anethe (Vinessa Shaw). Also living with them is a boarder named Louis Wagner (Ciaran Hinds). According to the official story, Wagner, in a jealous rage, murdered Karen and Anethe while Maren escaped and hid on the shore to await the return of her brother and husband who had gone for a night of fishing. Wagner was convicted of the crime though, to the day he was hanged, he denied his guilt.

For some reason, the official story doesn't sit well with Jean who, though she is just supposed to take pictures, begins investigating the murders. The story she uncovers vaguely resembles the story unfolding on the boat between her husband, his brother and Addeline. Jealousy, suspicion, and questionable behavior all begin to mirror the story of the murder. You can see where this is leading.

It's not the most original setup, but to the credit of director Kathryn Bigelow the film doesn't go in exactly the direction you think it's heading. We saw a similar setup earlier this year in the dramatic romance Possession, where a pair of historians begin a relationship that mirrors the one they are researching. In The Weight of Water, as Jean investigates what really happened in the Smuttynose murder case, she senses a similar pattern evolving amongst her group leading to a moral situation foreshadowed by the true story of the murders. There is a seemingly supernatural element to the film, in what I believed were Jean's visions of what happened in the past. However this hint of the supernatural never truly plays out, it is merely used to connect the two stories.

Here is the problem with this film, the film switches between the past and present so randomly that we lose the connection between them. The links between the two stories are tenuous at best.

The real story of the murders, as uncovered by Jean, is far more lurid and interesting than the rather dull melodrama unfolding on the boat. Yet, the screenwriter and director seem to want to play up the parallels between the two. The only real parallel is jealousy, and by the time that becomes clear, you're left saying, is that it? Jealousy is a common thread in a lot of murders or potential murders; one would hope after sitting through two hours of this film, one would get something a little more interesting than the green eyed monster.

Sarah Polley gives yet another beautifully layered performance, using her big round eyes to communicate her character's conflicted nature. Looking at her sparse surroundings and her extremely dull husband, it's no wonder she would entertain psychotic thoughts, anything to distract from her life must have been welcome.

The Smuttynose Murders are a true story of lust, incest, and ax murders; of lies and deceit; and a cover up that may have sent an innocent man to the gallows. The story would be sensational if it weren't true and should have been an easy fit on the big screen. However, when combined with the dramatized modern story, it doesn't get the treatment it deserved.