Who's in It: Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, Deborra-Lee Furness, John Howard, Leah Purcell, Stelios Yiakmis, Simon Stone
The Basics: Well, it takes about 40 minutes to get to it, but this slooooow movie is about four guys on a fishing trip who discover a dead female body in a river and then just go about their business of fishing some more. Later, it turns into a film about the wife (Linney) of one of the fishermen (Byrne) and her need to find out what really happened to the dead woman and why. But nothing ever really feels urgent or even all that important, even when the camera's point of view makes it clear that the sportsmen are being watched.
What's the Deal? It does one thing really well. It shows you how people can compartmentalize their lives into the creepily opposing camps of "wow, it sure is horrifying that we just found a dead body" and "but let's not let that spoil our weekend getaway if it's at all possible." So it makes banal stuff like fishing seem like a moral failing. Best line: "We found a body. But I caught the most amazing fish!" Otherwise, it's kind of a slog, like when you try to walk fast through deep water.
Worth Watching For: Linney. If you're a fan, you'll be happy to see her here being tense and upset in that quiet, controlled, smart-person way. She's really good at that and seems to be a sort of go-to gal for that kind of performance. That just sounded like a dis probably (it wasn't meant to be). Australian character actress Furness is great, too.
Go to the Source: It was based on Raymond Carver's great short story "So Much Water So Close to Home," so just go read that if you want a better version. And you'll save time, because it'll take less than two hours to get through.
Where You've Seen This Before: Robert Altman's Short Cuts uses the same Carver story in part of its script.