Deep Water (2006/Documentary/Sailing/Genius Entertainment)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B-     Documentary: B-

 

 

For all the dreams and ideas of one individual sailing around the world being dreamlike and imaginary, the fact that Donald Crowhurst attempted to pull it off against all odds and limited means is the subject of the engaging new documentary Deep Water (2007) about how this family man took on the trip in 1967 and succeeded.

 

However, just knowing the conclusion is nowhere near as interesting or involving as the rich 93 minutes presented here.  Instead of a simple win or lose story, the film is loaded with great stills, documents and an amazing amount of archive film footage on just about everything surrounding the event.  There was a contest involved and nine men set out to win a prize for making the trip.  They all got much more than anyone ever bargained for.  I just wished this were even longer.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is not bad, the archival footage is nicely edited in and the film has a pace that is constantly intriguing.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix has more than its share of either monophonic archival audio (including that of some of the film footage) or just film voices.  Extras include three interview sections and an interactive guide to Crowhurst’s boat called The Abandoned Boat.

 

All in all, this is one of the most interesting documentaries of the year.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo