Waterborne (2005)
"Waterborne" might very well be
the first post-9/11 disaster film. Here the characters
of the film are faced not with a natural disaster
or even a disaster that comes from man's negligence,
but one that is deliberate and terrorism based. In
this film, the water system that supplies Los Angeles
has apparently been poisoned and the resulting panic
is the focus of the film.
Writer and director Ben Rekhi interweaves
three stories, a soldier and his Asian-American wife
and child, a Sikh- American family who run a grocery
store, and two stoner buddies who hit the road to
leave town. How each group of people reacts to the
situation presented, one of no potable water, is the
basis of the film.
Rekhi films the piece with a modern
filmmaker's eye and scores it with that same modern
ear. In fact, the music by Dredg that accents the
film is one of its biggest selling points. This is
one of the best scores ever to grace a film, one that
is so perfect at underscoring what is happening on
screen that we nearly do not even notice it. (The
true sign of a brilliant score). Rekhi uses quick
edits and cinema verite' style shooting to present
the film effectively.
The acting is also quite nice even
though nobody seems to be breaking down any barriers.
I had the pleasure of meeting actress Mageina Tovah
(of "Spiderman 2" fame) at SXSW in 2005, where the
movie had its world premiere, and found her to be
a genuine, charming and sweet person. She plays just
such a character in the film and does so in a way
that makes us easily fall under her spell. Christopher
Masterson, from "Malcolm in the Middle," also seems
to be playing a character having much in common with
his TV persona. And John Gries, newly famous due to
his role as Uncle Rico in "Napoleon Dynamite," plays
the sort of character we are more used to seeing him
play, sans toupee, as a soldier. While these actors
and their co-stars certainly make the film work, none
of them is given much of anything new and interesting
in their roles to truly challenge them. It does, however,
say much about Rekhi's ability to cast the right person
for the right role.
Rekhi, himself a self-described
"half-Sikh, half-American" man, infuses his story
with a family that also fits that description. In
the process, we must deal with racism and racial profiling,
something that is especially important in the post-9/11
America world in which we live.
But the film is often contrived
and a little too obvious. For example, the Sikh "immigrant"
family here run a convenience store. This seems a
bit stereotypical. And the three stories, each of
which could and probably should run independently
of one and other, collide in a forced and scripted
climax that is just a little too unbelievable and
convenient.
Still, this is a solid film and
one that presents a somewhat valid scenario in our
modern world. Its biggest problem perhaps is that
Rekhi keeps things just a little too subtle. There's
no real panic here. We don't get a true sense of just
how out-of-control things are really getting. Plus
several of his conflicts are all based outside of
the problem at hand (getting water) and he too often
relies on obvious or unimportant conflicts to propel
the film. For example, Masterson's stoner buddy beats
up a friend for a ridiculous reason, the mother of
Sikh young man doesn't like his "white" girlfriend,
etc... leaving "Waterborne" just a little too obvious
and unfocused for a film that is directed so well,
acted so smoothly, and scored so perfectly.
Notes:
Also with Bollywood star Shabana
Azmi and Jake Muxworthy.
A couple of lines are spoken in
what I believe is Punjabi with subtitles.
Viewed at SXSW in March 2005.
