There’s none of the jocularity from The Tender Bar, none of the passion he brought to The Town, and definitely none of the rage that underlined his performances as Batman and Daredevil. For a man who’s learning that his wife is fooling around on him, Affleck lacks the energy that’s defined his usual performances. There’s also the fact that half of the film’s central couple seems to be totally checked out. Lyne seems to depend on Marco Beltrami’s score to create moments of tension, and although Beltrami makes good use of horns to signify the chaos descending into the Van Allen’s lives, good music can only take you so far when setting a scene. Compare this with the infamous “boiled bunny” scene in Fatal Attraction the rising music and the intercutting between Beth Gallagher finding the rabbit in the pot and little Ellen running to find the rabbit makes for a masterclass in tension. A key example comes when Vic confronts Melinda about her affairs, and she taunts him to the point where he grabs her by the arms…and then the scene shifts to a pool party being held by their neighbors. Scenes often abruptly shift just as they start building up to a resolution, which takes all the air out of those scenes in the process. However, none of these elements click as well as they should.įor starters, Lyne’s direction lacks the thrill of his usual efforts, thanks to some insanely confusing editing from Andrew Mondshein and Tim Squyres. And it boasted an impressive pair of leads in Affleck and de Armas, who also started dating around the time of filming. Highsmith’s novels have proven to be fertile ground for adaptation - see The Talented Mr. Lyne is the director who essentially defined the look and feel of the erotic thriller, helming classics in the genre including Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal. On paper, Deep Water had all the right ingredients for success. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Vic, and soon Melinda’s lovers start meeting a grisly end.

However, Melinda has grown bored of their relationship and starts to have affairs with other men. His work developing military software has allowed him to retire and live with Melinda and their daughter Trixie in an affluent neighborhood. Vic Van Allen ( Ben Affleck) seems to have a perfect life: He’s married to his beautiful wife Melinda ( Ana de Armas). Deep Water is a Hulu Original film directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Zach Helm & Sam Levinson, based on the novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith.

Deep water novel patricia highsmith