Nicole Kidman is stuck on a boat

Let's look at one of her early roles in 'Dead Calm'

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There’s one shot in Phillip Noyce’s 1989 thriller Dead Calm that I thought was exceptional, with the rest of the movie being serviceably entertaining.

In the shot, Sam Neill (husband) is frantically rowing a dinghy to a sailboat where Nicole Kidman (wife) is being attacked by Billy Zane (crazed killer).

The camera is positioned on the back of the dinghy so that as Neill approaches, the urgency of the attack in the background heightens the tension of the shot. It’s exceptionally well choreographed and executed, and for a brief moment, I was fully transfixed.

Neill fails, Zane takes Kidman hostage, and most of the rest of the movie involves the married couple trying to get back to each other.

But what exactly are they all doing in the middle of the ocean?¹