''Deepwater'' is a 2005

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

written and directed by David S. Marfield. It is based on ''Deepwater'', a 1999 novel written by

Matthew F. Jones Matthew F. Jones is an American novelist and screenwriter. Jones grew up in rural upstate New York and currently lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. His novels have been translated into various foreign languages and several times have been nam ...

. It was screened at the

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

on June 9, 2005, and the München Fantasy Filmfest in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

on June 28, 2005. The film was shot in

Clearwater Clearwater or Clear Water may refer to: Places Canada * Clear Water Academy, a private Catholic school located in Calgary, Alberta * Clearwater (provincial electoral district), a former provincial electoral district in Alberta * Clearwater, Briti ...

and

Little Fort Little Fort is a small community on the west bank of North Thompson River in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is some north of Kamloops, British Columbia, Kamloops. The community is located at the junction of British Columbia Highway ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Synopsis

Nat Banyon (

Lucas Black Lucas York Black (born November 29, 1982) is an American film and television actor. He is best known as the main character Sean Boswell in '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006), of which he would later reprise the character in '' Fur ...

) is a

hitch-hiker Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Nomads hav ...

whose dream is to open an ostrich farm in

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. Early in the trip, he gets in a fight at a truck-stop bar and in the ruckus, takes his opponent's car keys, stealing his sports car. Continuing the journey, he finds a stranger (

Peter Coyote Peter Coyote (born Robert Peter Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author and narrator of films, theatre, television, and audiobooks. He worked on films such as '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), '' Cr ...

) trapped in an overturned vehicle. He rescues him just as the car is completely destroyed by an incoming truck. Grateful for saving his life, the stranger, Herman Finch, hires Nat as the handyman for his motel. Nat soon learns that Finch runs a criminal network, acting in collusion with the police. Most of the locals are also in league with Finch. And everyone who irritates or opposes him soon turns up missing. They are then found dead. Finch's young, attractive wife Iris (

Mía Maestro Mía Maestro (born 19 June 1978) is an Argentine actress and singer. She is known for her roles as Nora Martinez in '' The Strain'', Nadia Santos in the television drama '' Alias'', as Christina Kahlo in ''Frida'', as Carmen in '' The Twilight ...

) soon hatches a plan to run off with Nat, planning to steal Finch's ill-gotten gains. Soon, Finch begins manipulating Nat when the latter begins questioning him about all the mysterious activities that had been taking place. Finch challenges Nat to a boxing match. If Nat wins, he will be free to leave and take his car as well as the salary that he had made as Finch's handyman. Nat shows up to the fight after training himself to tip-top shape. When he steps into the ring, Finch suddenly reveals that the fight was a joke. Finch says he doesn't want Nat to leave; Nat had been too good of a worker. Enraged, Nat attacks Finch, and then rushes to the motel. There, he grabs Iris and tells her that they have to leave. Despite her resistance, Nat is too deeply in love with Iris to escape alone. He kidnaps her and speeds away. Unsure of where to go in the night, Nat follows Iris' directions. However, Iris deceives Nat to drive to the barn where he had seen Finch for the fight. In a final fit of frustration, Nat drives off into the water. After pulling the unconscious Iris out of the submerged car and onto shore, Nat is attacked by Finch, and they have a final showdown. Nat loses the fight, and the police arrive to arrest him. During his flight with Iris it is revealed that Nat is mentally ill, suffering from delusions and hallucinations and possibly multiple personality disorder. This leaves the viewer unsure of how much of the story has been real, and how much has been Nat's imagination. Part of Nat's pathology is an unhealthy attachment to Finch. Although he clearly hates him, he also sees him as a father figure, and his conflicted feelings about his father become entangled with his feeling towards Finch. We come to realize that it is Nat who killed Finch's supposed enemies, to protect his father figure. The film also slowly alludes to the fact that Iris' love for Nat had been Nat's own delusion. Nat is sent back to a mental hospital where he falls deeper into

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

, whimpering about the baby ostriches that he would now never have the chance to raise.

Cast

as Nat Banyon *

as Herman Finch *

as Iris *

Lesley Ann Warren Lesley Ann Warren (born August 16, 1946) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in 1963, aged 17, in '' 110 in the Shade''. In 1965 she received wide recognition for playing the title role in the television musical prod ...

as Pam *

Xander Berkeley Alexander Harper Berkeley (born December 16, 1955) is an American actor and voice actor. Since beginning his career in the early 1980s, he has appeared in over 200 film and television projects. His film roles include '' Terminator 2: Judgment Da ...

as Gus *

Jason Cerbone Jason Cerbone (born November 2, 1977) is an American actor. He played Jackie Aprile Jr. on the HBO series ''The Sopranos'', Lorenzo Desappio in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2012-2016), and Mikey O in ''Paper Soldiers'' (2002). Early l ...

as Sal *

Michael Ironside Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He is known for playing villains and "tough guy" heroes, and has also portrayed sympathetic characters. E ...

as "Walnut" *

Kristen Bell Kristen Anne Bell (born July 18, 1980) is an American actress. Beginning her acting career by starring in stage productions while attending the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, she made her Broadway stage debut as Becky That ...

as Nurse Laurie * Ben Cardinal as Petersen *

Dee Snider Daniel "Dee" Snider (born March 15, 1955)Tayler, LettaTwisted Sister's Dee Snider remembers his challenging Long Island upbringing "Newsday", March 15, 2016Archived here/ref> is an American singer, songwriter, radio personality, and actor. He w ...

as Bartender * John Boncore as Joe Littlefeet * Valerie Murphy as Stripper

Home media

The region one

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

was released July 25, 2006.

References

External links

* * * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, deepwater 2005 films 2000s mystery thriller films 2005 psychological thriller films American mystery thriller films American neo-noir films American psychological thriller films Films based on American novels Films based on mystery novels Films scored by Charlie Clouser 2000s English-language films 2000s American films