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Bookmark this pageThe Big Blue (1988)
Director: Luc Besson
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
The action centres on the rivalry between free-divers Barr and Reno - they dive deep without an aqualung - which begins when they are little boys. The first time you see someone plunging into alien blackness is exciting, but the novelty soon wears off. The first half-hour is the best part of the movie. Going through her usual kooky routine, Arquette plays a New York insurance agent who encounters Barr in Peru, and is captivated by his wide-eyed innocence (which others might describe as bovine stupidity). Her sole purpose seems to be to reassure the audience that there is nothing funny going on between best buddies Barr, who talks to dolphins, and Reno, a macho mother's boy (a performance of much comic credibility). The ending is the worst part of the movie: Barr rejects the pregnant Arquette in favour of going under one last time to become a dolphin-man. Such bathos reeks of cod-Camus. What lies in between is a series of CinemaScopic swathes of blue seas and white cliffs. Besson's film is exactly like his hero: very pretty but very silly.Author: MS
User reviews of this film
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- Erin said...
- Posted on Jul 13 2011 06:25 With all due respect I think you miss the point entirely...Mayol's character is terrified of intimacy because he lost both of his parents as a child, then his best friend...therefore his obsession with diving and dolphins only grows because he feels safe in the ocean. Additionally his father died in the ocean strengthening his desire to dive in an unconscious attempt to stay connected to him in some way. A gorgeous, gorgeous film...except I too was so disappointed in the scene where he doesn't go to the pregnant Johana. That was over the top mean--not in character and not believable. Let's all think that he went to her and finally had a family...without giving up his diving!
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Cast & crew
Director: Luc Besson
Producer: Patrice Ledoux
Cast: Rosanna Arquette, Jean-Marc Barr, Jean Reno, Paul Shenar, Sergio Castellitto, Jean Bouise, Griffin Dunne full cast
Rated: 15
Duration: 119 mins
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