'The Requin' movie review: Glaringly deficient survival thriller

Still from The Requin

Film: The Requin
Cast: Alicia Silverstone, James Tupper, Deirdre O'Connell, Danny Chung
Director/Writer: Le-Van Kiet
Rating: 1/5
Runtime: 89 min

A couple (Alicia Silverstone and James Tupper) trying to survive a devastating event in their marriage decide to go broke on an absolutely plush, scenic above water villa for a beachfront holiday in Vietnam. But not before long, they find themselves swept away and stranded at sea when a tropical storm erupts. They are marooned at sea, his leg is broken, her cell phone doesn't work, and the hotel guys have conveniently forgotten about their existence. So no help is at hand. In order to survive, they are forced to fight the elements, while sharks circle below scenting human blood.

If you are trying to figure out what "Requin" means, lets get that out of the way. It is French for "shark" and the story(if you can all it that) is set in the former French colony of Vietnam. Despite the French connection ‘The Requin' feels too limited to be entertaining. The filmmakers were clearly working with limited imagination and skill sets - which show up during the exasperating narrative spiel.

For a film with 89 min runtime, "The Requin," waits almost an hour before introducing major man-eating fish action. Even when the shark attack action happens it feels terribly done. The CGI is terrible. The overuse of green screen results in sloppy build-up and ridiculous shark attack moments. Even Jaws which was made in 1975 had an incremental threat perception that had the audience scared and cowering. This one just makes you wonder what the multi-million dollar budget was being used for? The narrative tries to highlight survivors guilt but its so sketchily represented that it fails to generate any empathy or emotion among the audience. To add to it, Jaelyn as played by Alicia Silverstone is so shrieky, unsympathetic and irritating a character that you are found hoping she would be the first one to go.

It's a completely inhospitable set-up and Jaelyn has to take care of her injured husband Kyle and find a way to seek help. That might have been a challenge worth pursuing for a more gifted actor. Alicia Silverstone though, is never up to the challenge. Her performance is just over-the-top hysterical. James Tupper as Kyle, has little to do. There's not enough dramatic variation or tension here. You will feel totally disconnected from what is happening here. The narrative is way too obvious and clumsily orchestrated to curry favor with any audience.