Though Rachel Weisz's doe-eyed, doomed turn is more than a little irresistible, it's the only thing anchoring the dour, self-serious The Deep Blue Sea. Terence Davies already brought this kind of discontent to the screen with The House of Mirth (featuring a more masterful lead performance by Gillian Anderson). He never outdoes himself here despite a considerable achievement in the film's opening 15 minutes, which are an honest, enchanting portrait of the beginnings of a love affair.
From there, the screenwriting gets overcooked. Dialogue says far more than any action or image, making it painfully obvious this was first a stageplay. An early sign we're in trouble comes when Weisz asks her stuffy mother-in-law what she would replace passion with, prompting the reply, "A guarded enthusiasm. It's safer." A couple intense arguments between Weisz and Tom Hiddleston are well-acted and involving, but their relationship's inevitable decline doesn't have a strong emotional wallop.
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