Do not be
fooled by what this film presents itself as. It is anything but an erotic
thriller. It is comedic at times. Several times, in fact. (My favorite moment
is the climax when a character utters the words: ‘goddamn fucking autocorrect’)
It is apparently humanitarian as this report seems to insinuate: IndieWire.com
On Affleck’s part, at least. And it is all publicity. This is like the fourth
film in Ben Affleck’s career that I know of that seems to want to draw viewers
in using allusions to his personal life. That might be starring alongside a
girlfriend at the time or working with an auteur who found the perfect casting
choice for their domestic thriller. This movie so wishes it was Gone Girl. But
it’s like it knows it can’t live up to that level of complexity, so it resigns
itself to just be gossip fodder. I mean there are so many allusions to
Affleck’s personal life in this movie that must be intentional. His first rival
is played by an actor who seriously favors Matt Damon, which is… a choice.
Choices like these seem to exist only to make viewers speculate about the actors’
personal lives instead of the really weird but somehow banal lives of the
characters. It solidified this opinion in my mind that Affleck’s celebrity
status seems to hinge on his celebrity which only obscures his actual talent. I
guess they both (Him and Ana de Armas) do a good job playing these characters,
but the script really never allows us to explore why and how these characters
got to be the way they are, so it seems really pointless. That being said, I
kind of enjoyed how ridiculous this movie was. Again, it was very funny.
Basically, that Sound of Silence meme personified with some gratuitous sex
scenes and snails. The Room with greater production value and... everything. If
that's your jam, I sincerely recommend Deep Water.
