Friday Finds shares a piece of content I’ve recently discovered on broadcast, cable, or streaming TV.
Today’s find: The Shape of Water
Genre: Sci-fi drama/romance
Origin: Fox Searchlight
Find it on: your local movie theatre
While Friday Finds is nominally an occasional column on TV content, I was so impressed by The Shape of Water that I feel I must include it here as a recommendation.
With an appreciation for Guillermo del Toro as well as a weakness for period pictures set in the mid-50s to mid-60s, I had an interest in The Shape of Water to begin with. With the ads already giving away the main plot line – woman falls in love with fish-man – I had expectations of a film that was going to be weird but made interesting enough by GTD’s talents.
I came out of the theatre thinking this may very well be the best movie I saw in all of 2017. The story, characters, and acting all were a surprise to be experienced. The main cast of Sally Yates, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer, Richard Jenkins, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Doug Jones do a great job. GDT does a fine job directing with some impressive sequences, especially the first few minutes that introduce us to Yates’ character and her world. As usual, GDT also imbues his creature with empathy and life in partnership with his long time collaborator Jones.
Despite Jones’ resemblance to the monster from the Black Lagoon, the film does not include anything horrific. There is some “standard” violence and blood, but nothing worse than any other contemporary action movie. It’s a romance crossed with action crossed with caper, and a most enjoyable two hours.
David Tice is the principal of TiceVision LLC, a media research consultancy.
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