Cinema Vitæ

To be fair, I should admit that my great dislike for director David Gordon Green’s earlier film All the Real Girls somewhat predisposed me to dislike Undertow as well. First, let me say that this is a better film than All the Real Girls. The acting is better, the setting is ideal, the costuming was spot on, and the script actually had something resembling a point.

This said, I still struggled with Green’s choices both as a writer and a director. A good number of scenes in Undertow (especially those involving Josh Lucas) are completely unnecessary. They don’t particularly add tension, they don’t develop character, and they don’t advance the story. One must question why such scenes did not hit the cutting room floor.

On this point, I think it helpful to compare Undertow with the later No Country for Old Men. Both films focus on a chase concerning money, and both have a very disturbed and violent antagonist. In their film, the Coen Brothers include scenes which are like little short stories within the greater story (think Javier Bardem’s character visiting the convenience store, for example); however, unlike Undertow, these little vignettes play a significant role in setting up later lines and actions or, at the very least, in establishing character and habits.

Besides the inclusion of unnecessary scenes, I was also befuddled as to why Green chose to use freeze framing in his film. While this technique can be used to great effect in film, Green’s decision to use it with seemingly no purpose or consistency left me wondering why it was included at all.

All said, Undertow hardly overcomes its shortcomings in screenplay and directing, and where it does succeed it does so solely on the backs of Jamie Bell and Devon Alan whose relationship on screen left me wanting to know and see more.