Review: Undertow (2004)




Southern-Gothic drama/thriller involves well-meaning Dad Dermot Mulroney struggling to raise his two kids, with eldest Jamie Bell a trouble-maker, and youngest Devon Alan a weird little kid who is constantly getting sick from ingesting all manner of unsavoury things. Estranged uncle Josh Lucas turns up one day, an ex-con whose intentions may not be entirely honourable, as he appears to be searching for something in the house. Tragedy strikes, and the two boys find themselves fleeing danger, as they attempt to head for their grandparents’ place. Eddie Rouse and Patrice Johnson are affecting as members of a slightly quirky, struggling African-American family the boys meet, and Shiri Appleby plays a street urchin-type.



Generally well-made, well-acted, and entirely watchable David Gordon Green (“All the Real Girls”, “Pineapple Express”) Southern Gothic flick unfortunately lost me once I realised I was watching little more than a mixture of “Night of the Hunter” and the underrated “Frailty”. Original, it ain’t. Still, Mulroney is excellent as a grubbier, working class equivalent of Atticus Finch, Lucas is a more than acceptable figure of menace (and thankfully, he doesn’t have ‘Love’ and ‘Hate’ tattooed on his hands), and Bell is impressive in the lead, including a flawless Southern accent. Not sure which idiot cast “Deliverance” hick Bill McKinney as a kindly grandfather, but it sure amused the hell out of me nonetheless. I love the guy.



After a while, I just started to feel déjà vu, and the scenes with homeless kids led by Appleby seem to belong to an entirely different, dumber film. A shame, because the opening passages were pretty involving. It’s not bad, it’s just nothing you haven’t likely already seen before.



Rating: C+

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