Ocean movie a little shallow

What happens when you leave a normal young couple out on the open ocean for 24 hours? Well, apparently, not a whole lot.\n"Open Water," the joint effort of husband-and-wife team Chris Kentis and Laura Lau, stars Blanchard Ryan and Daniel Travis as Susan and Daniel, an achingly normal married couple under stress from work and needing a vacation. Not surprisingly, they get more than they bargained for when their scuba tour boat accidentally leaves them behind, drifting in the middle of miles of open water. For the next 24 hours, they find themselves pitted against the sea and everything that lurks beneath. \nThe idea is loaded with potential, but falls flat here for lack of plot and character development. Much could be discovered about two people, about themselves and about each other, in such a dilemma, but instead the audience is treated to meaningless small talk and one fight that could have taken place on the side of the road over a flat tire.\nThe real disappointment of "Open Water" is the failure of the two main characters to capture any interest whatsoever. Their dilemma is not compelling because the audience finds it hard to care about them. They are flat, one-dimensional, and clichéd. \nWhere there could have been a psychological thriller, a character study or a portrait of the struggle of humanity against nature, there was only a glorified reality show.\nFailings aside, there are moments of visceral fear when the couple find themselves surrounded by sharks. When darkness falls, lightning offers the only illumination, showing Susan and Daniel clinging to each other, panicking. In these moments, the tension is almost too much to bear, and one feels grateful for the warm movie theater seat to snuggle into, and the cool, refreshing beverage.\n"Open Water" is something of a cross between "The Blair Witch Project" and "Castaway." Jerky, grainy camera work is not just limited to the ocean scenes — one feels trapped in a home video. Unlike "Castaway," which also pitted man against nature, the audience is unable to form an emotional attachment to the protagonists. They remain unchanged throughout (give or take a mouthful or two).\nWith its premise, the film does succeed in making a powerful statement about humankind's ignorance of the world around and beneath them, and the ability of the environment to overpower humanity, a fact all too easy to forget. It certainly will not have the viewer eager to go swimming in the ocean anytime soon.