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IMDbPro

The Weight of Water

  • 20002000
  • RR
  • 1h 54m
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
9.7K
YOUR RATING
Elizabeth Hurley, Sean Penn, and Catherine McCormack in The Weight of Water (2000)
Trailer
Play trailer1:47
1 Video
30 Photos
CrimeDramaMystery
A newspaper photographer researches an 1873 double homicide and finds her own life paralleling that of a witness who survived the tragic ordeal.A newspaper photographer researches an 1873 double homicide and finds her own life paralleling that of a witness who survived the tragic ordeal.A newspaper photographer researches an 1873 double homicide and finds her own life paralleling that of a witness who survived the tragic ordeal.
IMDb RATING
5.8/10
9.7K
YOUR RATING
    • Kathryn Bigelow
    • Anita Shreve(novel)
    • Alice Arlen(screenplay)
    • Christopher Kyle(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Catherine McCormack
    • Sean Penn
    • Sarah Polley
    • Kathryn Bigelow
    • Anita Shreve(novel)
    • Alice Arlen(screenplay)
    • Christopher Kyle(screenplay)
  • Stars
    • Catherine McCormack
    • Sean Penn
    • Sarah Polley
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 98User reviews
    • 49Critic reviews
    • 45Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos1

    The Weight of Water
    Trailer 1:47
    Watch The Weight of Water

    Photos30

    Elizabeth Hurley and Josh Lucas in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Sean Penn and Catherine McCormack in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Sean Penn and Josh Lucas in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Elizabeth Hurley and Catherine McCormack in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Sarah Polley in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Elizabeth Hurley and Sean Penn in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Sarah Polley in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Katrin Cartlidge and Sarah Polley in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Sean Penn in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Elizabeth Hurley, Sean Penn, and Catherine McCormack in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Elizabeth Hurley and Sean Penn in The Weight of Water (2000)
    Elizabeth Hurley, Sean Penn, and Catherine McCormack in The Weight of Water (2000)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Catherine McCormack
    Catherine McCormack
    • Jean Janes
    Sean Penn
    Sean Penn
    • Thomas Janes
    Sarah Polley
    Sarah Polley
    • Maren Hontvedt
    Elizabeth Hurley
    Elizabeth Hurley
    • Adaline Gunne
    Ciarán Hinds
    Ciarán Hinds
    • Louis Wagner
    • (as Ciaran Hinds)
    Richard Donat
    Richard Donat
    • Mr. Plaisted
    Ulrich Thomsen
    Ulrich Thomsen
    • John Hontvedt
    Anders W. Berthelsen
    Anders W. Berthelsen
    • Evan Christenson
    Murdoch MacDonald
    • Bailiff
    • (as Murdock McDonald)
    Joseph Rutten
    Joseph Rutten
    • Judge
    John Walf
    • Defense Attorney
    Katrin Cartlidge
    Katrin Cartlidge
    • Karen Christenson
    Vinessa Shaw
    Vinessa Shaw
    • Anethe Christenson
    Adam Curry
    • Emil Ingerbretson
    Josh Lucas
    Josh Lucas
    • Rich Janes
    John Maclaren
    John Maclaren
    • Dr. Parsons
    Rita Kvist
    • Young Maren
    Jan Tore Kristoffersen
    • Young Evan
      • Kathryn Bigelow
      • Anita Shreve(novel)
      • Alice Arlen(screenplay)
      • Christopher Kyle(screenplay)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Based on an actual double-murder on the Isles of Shoals on 6 March 1873.
    • Goofs
      When John Hontvedt, the Norwegian husband, turns the tea mug over at the site of the murders, there is a modern factory silkscreen stamp on the bottom of the mug.
    • Quotes

      Thomas Janes: Though lovers shall be lost, love shall not.

    • Connections
      Referenced in Film Geek (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      Sulli lulli lite ban
      Written by Inge Krokann

      Performed by Traditional

    User reviews98

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    A cruise to nowhere
    The problem with "The Weight of the Water", the film, is the way the novel by Anita Shreve, was adapted for the screen. This is the basic flaw that even a good director like Kathryn Bigelow couldn't overcome when she took command of the production. The novel, as it is, presents grave problems for a screen treatment, something that the adapters, Alicia Arlen and Christopher Kyle, were not successful with their screen play.

    The picture is basically a film within a film. Both subjects, the present time and the story that is revealed as Jane gets involved, parallel each other, but one story has nothing to do with the other. Also, the way this film was marketed was wrong. This is not a thriller at all. What the book and the film are about is human situations that are put to a test.

    In the story that happened many years ago in a settlement in coastal New England, there was a notorious murder at the center of the narrative. It has to do with a wrongly accused man, Louis Wagner, a man that is basically crippled with arthritis that is accused by Maren Hontvelt, his landlady, as the one that killed two women, Karen and Anethe. In flashbacks we get to know the truth of how an innocent man is hung for a crime he didn't commit.

    The second story shows how Jane who is traveling with her husband Thomas, in his brother's yacht. She is a photographer on assignment about the place where the women were murdered, years ago, is lured to the subject matter she is photographing, and makes the discovery of the truth. Her own relationship with her husband Thomas is a troubled one. They are doomed as a couple, one can only see the way he leers after his brother's girlfriend as she parades almost naked in the pleasure boat they are spending time. In the novel the tension comes across much deeply than what one sees in the movie.

    The amusing thing about the film is that the secondary story is more interesting than the present one. Thus, the luminous Sarah Polley, who plays Maren in the secondary tale, makes a deep impression, as does the accused man, Louis Wagner, who is portrayed by Ciaran Hands. Sean Penn, comes across as somehow stiff as Thomas. The wonderful Katrin Cartlidge is totally wasted.

    The film has elicited bad comments in this forum, but it's not the bad movie some people are trying to say it is. Better yet, read Ms. Shreve's novel as it is more satisfying than what came out in this movie version.
    helpful•31
    11
    • jotix100
    • Dec 12, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 31, 2002 (France)
      • United States
      • Canada
      • France
      • English
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Fox Baja Studios, Rosarito, Baja California Norte, Mexico
    • Production companies
      • StudioCanal
      • Manifest Film Company
      • Palomar Pictures (II)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • 1 hour 54 minutes
      • Color
      • Black and White
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital

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