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MOVIE REVIEW 'The Shallows' is a taut thrill ride Comment By Chris Honoré for Revels DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Jun. 30, 2016 at 12:01 AM By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Jun. 30, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Social News The Shallows ; 87min; Rated PG-13 It’s summer, and when better to sit in an air-conditioned theater and watch a really terrific B-movie about a hidden crescent of beach somewhere on the coast of Mexico, its water a shimmering turquoise, a perfectly formed set of waves breaks from right to left, ideal for surfing, the cloudless sky a cobalt blue. A lovely young woman arrives for the first time, board in hand, ready for a glorious day of surfing. Svelte, toned, her name is Nancy (Blake Lively), a med student who has recently lost her mother to cancer and is coming to terms with her loss while looking for a particular beach, oft mentioned by her mom as her most favorite. Nancy now stands where her mother stood and takes it all in. She glances at a picture on her phone. Indeed. She’s found it. The place. She studies the surf. There are two riders catching perfectly formed waves, cutting back and forth, and so she quickly puts on a short wet suit top and heads out, paddling through cresting waves, looking for the right place beyond the break where she can launch. The day passes, the rides glorious. Finally, the two locals call to her that they are heading in. Nancy, however, decides to paddle a bit further out for one more ride. What she is unaware of is that there is an enormous dead whale, its body caught on the rocks, and in the waters around it swims a great white shark, feeding on the whale’s carcass. It’s seen for the first time in silhouette, tracking Nancy as she rides a large wave toward shore. Thus begins act two of “The Shallows,” a thrilling, tense, breath-taking tale of survival as Nancy struggles to overcome what is a harrowing and wrenching dilemma. It is in a singular moment, when she drops down the face of the last wave, that the shark attacks, knocking her off her board and opening a deep gash in her leg. Instantly the water is saturated with blood as she tumbles against the bottom, hitting sharp coral and rocky sand. She manages to get to a flat rock, some 200 yards from shore, and it’s there that she attempts, using earrings and a necklace, to close her ragged wound. Meanwhile she becomes aware that the shark, a massive creature, its dorsal fin cutting the surface, is slowly circling, waiting, making any attempt at swimming to the beach impossible. “The Shallows” is a taut thriller, absent any dialogue to speak of. What that means is that all that is emotive about this nicely drawn film depends on the considerable ability of Lively, who must now endure a long, cold night while ever aware that with the arrival of high tide in the morning her place on the rock will gradually become more and more precarious. Being in the water, even the shallows, will mean all but certain death. As the sun sets, she waits and shivers in the dark and grimaces from the pain of not only her severe leg injury, but countless coral cuts and abrasions. Lively’s performance is spot-on as the camera tightly follows her tenacious attempt at resisting a mind-numbing panic, fighting to be resourceful and brave. Her expressions, the clench of her jaw, the look in her eyes, the pep talks she gives herself saturates her situation with an abiding verisimilitude. The role also required a tour de force of demanding athleticism. So if you’re suffering from superhero fatigue and feeling a bit disappointed with the big-tent Marvel blockbusters, well, here is the antidote: an adrenaline-inducing movie that will grip you from the moment you reach for that first handful of popcorn until the end credits. That nudging, nascent feeling of dread builds, ultimately filling every frame and becomes unrelenting. Enjoy. After all, as mentioned, it is summer. By Chris Honoré for Revels DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Jun. 30, 2016 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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