Redmayne brings home a lovely performance as Jim, and Stratton-Twine is very funny as Hollis, Marina’s brother and “fishologist.” That is a really good example of the insane creative reach you get with stupid wigs and accents. The Peril at Pincer Point provides a wealth of funny lines and situations for pretty much everyone present, and there is a healthy disregard for logic and plenty of love for just ginning up the mystery and energy. The obsessed PW, in particular, played here by Os Leanse, is great, serving as the motor, and he reminded me very much of Peter Richardson.
“steps deftly between deadpan appreciations of the deliciously weird cast, and an unexpectedly sharp dramatic edge”
The caustic tone felt immature, perhaps. When Jim yells at his girlfriend to shut up in an opening scene, when she didn’t do anything, it sounds mean, and you momentarily wonder about these characters. Especially with that sound booth scene, with its awful chorus of smug young film-makers reaching a delirious boiling point. But the script, Redmayne, and the cast in general do a great job of ferrying that young media professional shitwittery to the coast, easily skewering it all. The tone for the rest of the film is reliably and enjoyably spot on.
The Peril at Pincer Point is a great film. By chance, I watched this with a trained fishmonger, and the additional horrors of their DVD commentary on pulling parasitic worms from gurnard suggest there is a gap in the marine horror market. A fine film. She cuts the water like a knife.
The Peril at Pincer Point screened at the SXSW Film Festival.
"…great..."
