Search - Water's Edge on DVD

Better than expected

Randall Richmond | Santa Rosa, CA United States | 10/24/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this disc because I was interested in seeing Nathan Fillion in a different role than his FIREFLY/SERENITY Captain Reynolds. I assumed it was going to be one of those cliche ridden B movies that are easily forgotten. Wrong. This was an excellent "non cliche ridden" movie that should have had a larger audience. All the actors were well cast, and the acting level was as good as most A movies - and the writing was well above average - all in all a disc worth purchasing."

"Firefly" fans will watch this for Nathan Fillion and they w

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 04/03/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Robert (Nathan Fillion) and Molly Graves (Chandra West) are trying to keep it together after the death of their young daughter. He is a writing who is now unable to write anything, and so the couple end up at his late father's cabin in the small rural community of Reedsville. Molly is haunted by a terrible dream and is doing a bit more than contemplating suicide. Finding that Molly has loaded his father's old shotgun, Robert takes the gun and run out of the hunting cabin into the woods. This seemed like a good idea at the time, but in the woods he stumbles across a strange scene: A sheriff has dragged a handcuffed young woman out of his cop car in the middle of the forest and is about to kill her. Robert intervenes, which means he and Molly are suddenly up to their necks in the cesspool of small town corruption.

Robert has saved the life of Rae Baines (Emmanuelle Vaugier), and of course he wants to know why the sheriff was about to bash her head in with a rock. An explanation is not forthcoming, and Robert's suspicions are aroused when he discovers $200,000 and some lewd photographs of Rae in the sheriff's car. Clearly there is something rotten going on in Reedsville and since they are in the middle of nowhere, Robert has nobody he can trust. This actually works out because apparently nobody in Reedsville is trustworthy, from Mayor Block (Daniel Baldwin) on down. But Robert and Molly are in way over their heads. At least their martial problems no longer seem that that important.

Obviously the main attraction for this 2003 direct to DVD movie is Nathan Fillion, who has a legion of fans because of his starring role on Joss Whedon's "Firefly," which translated into the theatrical film "Serenity." But unless you harbor dreams that he is going to show up on your doorstep and propose to you out of a clear blue sky, this is clearly a rental. Fillion and West both provide fine performances, but Vaugier cannot carry off the shifts required to keep stirring up the plot in this one. Fortunately, the rest of the characters keep things fairly low-keyed, so things never descend into caricature, but the initial set up slowly descends into fairly standard action, including a gunfight where people are shooting in and out of a house without bothering to use the windows. Except for a handful of trailers there are no special features on this DVD, which just reinforces that "Water's Edge" is essentially a curiosity for Fillion's fans."

SOGGY BUT SUSPENSEFUL

Michael Butts | Martinsburg, WV USA | 07/07/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"WATER'S EDGE is one of those films where you just can't believe how stupid people can be. In this case, it's the hero (well played by Nathan Fillion), who stumbled upon an attempted murder by a local sheriff, who then kills the sheriff, rescues the girl, and disposes of the sheriff and his car in the local river. Fillion also finds a lot of cash in the car, and some revealing pictures of the town's illustrious mayor (Daniel Baldwin). Things with the girl aren't quite what they seem, and before you know it, Fillion and his wife (Chandra West) find themselves in the middle of some messy coverup. A subplot reveals Fillion and West are now broke, due to the expenses incurred when their young daughter drowned, and life support was used to try and spare her life. The performances are credible, but Fillion's actions so unbelievable that it keeps the movie from achieving anything more than a standard thriller."