Here's a low budget, shot on digital video with multiple camera brands picture which took a lot of awards and hit nationwide and international distribution deals, while at the same time offers a suck of an ending which left me pissed at the filmmakers.

"Open Water" is about Susan and Daniel, two vacationers looking for a little scuba diving exploration when they are left behind by their tourism boat. See what happens is, two people on board the board were accidentally counted twice. This was a great trick and well established visually by director Chris Kentis. So believing these two could be left behind and deserted is very believable.

However, as believability goes, that's it for the picture. The film starts off rough with useless hand held close ups which can make someone sick if they sit too close. Eventually, the couple gets to their vacation destination and have this naked scene in bed, where the dialogue was cute and the picture began to get decent.

Once our characters were in the water, the picture got increasingly better, leaving disbelief at the door. The two contend with the current taking them further out to sea, jelly fish stings and sharks poking and prodding at them.

Eventually, they turn on each other as the morning dive turns into an evening nightmare when Daniel is finally bitten by a shark and begins to bleed profusely.

A little about myself…I hate sharks. I've never seen one, even from a boat, but ever since I saw "Jaws" as a kid, I can't stand the idea of a shark swimming around me. So immediately, this storyline sucked me in.

Now here's my major problems with what was becoming a great DV motion picture. Do NOT read on if you don't want the ending spoiled for you.

The picture begins and is billed with the graphic "based on a true story." However, after Daniel is bitten and the two spend the night out in open water where they are once again bothered by the largest predator yet, by the next morning Daniel is dead. This I appreciated. It was a stab of realism into this mounting miraculous picture about human determination.

When Daniel died, I thought to myself, OK, this must be Susan's story then, cause how else would the filmmakers or anyone get so much detailed information about how they survived for so long without any signs of help?

Well, the tourism boat discovers their gear still on the boat the next morning. Why the guides didn't check the boat and find two of THEIR tanks missing and think something was wrong before taking their afternoon divers out, I don't know. I will dismiss that…again suspension of disbelief. So, the hotel manager finds Susan and Daniel did not return to their rooms and before you know it, two choppers and six coast guard boats are out searching for the two. Now, we have hope that our heroes, or NOW, our hero-ess will be saved.

But before the boats arrive to rescue Susan, she faces a final ordeal. The waters suddenly become frighteningly INFESTED with sharks who devour her husband's dead body and seek an encore. The scene drove me nuts. I kept listening for the sounds of the choppers coming to lift her out of danger.

However, they never came. Instead, Susan takes off her gear, her oxygen and anything else that would keep her afloat, holds her hands up and drops before the surface of the water, offering herself as the second course of the shark school's morning meal. Yes, she kills herself!

So, my question is this. If this is a true story, how do the filmmakers know HOW LONG they survived once they were left behind, and what they had to do to survive through the night even after a series of attacks?

The answer is, they couldn't have without witnesses, and who was left to tell their story? The sharks? So here we have this true story, where we are lead to believe Susan will make it, cause how else does their story get told to the world, but instead the movie ends up being about a couple of divers who were deserted and eaten by sharks. THAT is not an event that warrants a movie about it. Thus, this ending completely sucked ass.

I do not believe all films should have a happy ending. I'm not complaining about that, but when a filmmaker LOCKS himself into having to deliver a happy ending and then have their characters GIVE UP after an hour long screen time of struggling to stay alive, that's just downright mean spirited to the viewer. Especially after the viewer hands over their trust and disbelief as most would.

The best way I can put it into perspective is if you've seen "Cast Away." Imagine, "Cast Away," but instead of building a raft and rowing off the island, Tom Hanks is found to be alive somehow and search parties are out looking for him. And instead of them finding him, Hanks climbs to the top of the ridge and hangs himself. Oh, and the beginning says it's "based on a true story."

This picture was mean to end the way it did. People die everywhere for reasons beyond their control, but their stories make horrible movies, as did this one. However, it is a pretty good ride along the way so I can't completely dog it. Overall, I think it sucked and should be avoided unless you want your heart ripped out and stomped on at the end.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?