Red Water

release year: 2003 made-for-TV movie
genre: shark drama
viewing setting: cable TV, 8/17/03

synopsis: A bull shark roams a Louisiana river, causing all sorts of trouble.

impressions: Decent, but limited by its very nature. As a TV movie, it lacks 1) ability to show blood and gore, and 2) budget to show more shark/shark attack. This movie felt like a long drama with a shark attack thrown in every now and then. Nine victims is good, but when most of them come at the end of the movie, there's a problem.

shark death toll: 9

things to watch for: Coolio's fate at the end. Man, that f***head was annoying. See more below.

something this movie has that no other movie has: Coolio swimming for dollars with a shark.

acting: Lou Diamond Phillips, the main woman protagonist, and the Australian hitman all turned in credible performances. Coolio, on the other hand, played a role that I fear wasn't much of a stretch for him: a trash-talking, mindless punk who waved a gun around and wanted to shoot everyone. Well before this movie's halfway point, I'd decided that if Coolio didn't die by the end, I would rip the movie a new a**hole.

final word: Minimally entertaining shark attack fare; falls short of the boat-biting antics of Jaws.

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