Head Above Water (1996)

A prominent judge, his wife, her ex-lover, their neighbor and a dead body that complicates their lives.

Director:

Jim Wilson

Writers:

Eirik Ildahl (screenplay "Hodet over vannet"), Geir Eriksen (screenplay "Hodet over vannet")

Stars:

Harvey Keitel, Cameron Diaz, Craig Sheffer

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Harvey Keitel	...	George
Cameron Diaz	...	Nathalie
Craig Sheffer	...	Lance
Billy Zane	...	Kent
Shay Duffin	...	Policeman

Storyline

In this dark comedy, a supreme court judge (George) and his very young wife (Nathalie) are on vacation at her family's summer home on an island. When the caretaker, her childhood pal, Lance, takes George on a fishing trip an old flame (Kent) shows up to surprise Nathalie while she's alone. After a night of drinking Nathalie awakes to find Kent, naked and dead in her bed, just as her husband and Lance are arriving. Panicked, Nathalie hides the body but as everyone finds out it just leads to more trouble as they try to dispose of the body and eventually discover what really happened to her ex.

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Plot Keywords:

beach house | tied to a chair | gagged with a lime | bound and gagged | cement shoes | 

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Taglines:

Murder just became a water sport.

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Genres:

Comedy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some moments of strong violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 June 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Acque profonde

Filming Locations:

Phippsburg, Maine, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$32,212

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$806,649

Company Credits

Production Co:

Majestic Films International,Tig Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the original Norwegian version, Head Above Water (1993), the female main character (Lene Elise Bergum) was topless for at least half of the movie. This was not the case in the Hollywood version.

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Crazy Credits

At the very end of the credits, after the copyright notice, there's an additional scene showing Lance's bird, Mo, on a cliff near the shore, chewing on the remains of Kent's postcard.

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Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Face/Off/Dream with the Fishes/Head Above Water/The Last Time I Committed Suicide/When the Cat's Away (1997)

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Soundtracks

Sail On Sailor
Written by Brian Wilson (uncredited), Tandyn Almer (uncredited), Van Dyke Parks (uncredited), Ray Kennedy (uncredited) and Jack Rieley (uncredited)
Performed by Golden Earring

User Reviews

Pretty decent dark comedy with the sexy Cameron Diaz that involves a triple love triangle!

"Head Above Water" certainly isn't a classic film or anything, yet it's probably worth a watch even though the film is short and the humor is dark and the plot is somewhat weak. The performances from Diaz and Keitel make it worth a view. Cameron Diaz as sexy as ever stars as Nathalie a free spirited young lady who's had a rough past with substance abuse, and supposedly now that her spouse is a judge named George(Harvey Keitel)her problems have washed ashore at their summer beach place. Upon a visit from an ex flame of Nathalie's a young man Kent(Billy Zane)takes an unexpected departure and things only become more complex when nearby friend Lance(Craig Sheffer)rounds out the mix in what is found to be a triple love triangle! Overall nothing great it's just some good and sexy work from Diaz in one of her early works as the plot just unravels to show a slick and messy triple love triangle.