There are a lot of good things about this movie. Fact-based stories always seem to have a better chance than pure fiction because we see people as they really act, and too often in movies people behave in ways that nobody would ever do in real life.
In particular, the scenes on the Island between the two couples was extremely well done, IMHO. There is real tension there and we feel it. On one level we wonder why Mac just doesn't leave the island and get away, but on another level we are told that he will never back down -- and there's also his attraction to Jennifer.
There are also some significant flaws. The sequencing of the story is badly handled. There are flashbacks that interfere with the story for no good reason. They are not all in the same order. Many of them seem to have nothing to do with the story and seem to be there just to fill out the extra long time slot.
Speaking of which, the movie is either too long or edited badly. Lucky I watched it on my ReplayTV and skipped over the boring parts. I would have liked to see much more on the island -- and without all the damned interruptions as we went back and forth between "present" day and the flashback. I think there was enough material to make use of the 3 hours, but the director apparently didn't and so added useless filler.
Finally there were just too many loose ends. Why did the killings take place? Was Buck jealous of Mac's attentions toward Jennifer? Was there really something going on between Mac and Jennifer? It looked like there was definitely something there but again we were shown too little of the island sequence to figure it all out. What about the other visitors to the island? How can we be sure it wasn't someone entirely different?
Four people were on the island. One washed up on shore dead and dismembered. Two returned to civilization. Where is the fourth? Maybe he did it. Or maybe he arranged it with Buck and or Jennifer and intentionally disappeared. Why didn't anyone think of that?
In particular, the scenes on the Island between the two couples was extremely well done, IMHO. There is real tension there and we feel it. On one level we wonder why Mac just doesn't leave the island and get away, but on another level we are told that he will never back down -- and there's also his attraction to Jennifer.
There are also some significant flaws. The sequencing of the story is badly handled. There are flashbacks that interfere with the story for no good reason. They are not all in the same order. Many of them seem to have nothing to do with the story and seem to be there just to fill out the extra long time slot.
Speaking of which, the movie is either too long or edited badly. Lucky I watched it on my ReplayTV and skipped over the boring parts. I would have liked to see much more on the island -- and without all the damned interruptions as we went back and forth between "present" day and the flashback. I think there was enough material to make use of the 3 hours, but the director apparently didn't and so added useless filler.
Finally there were just too many loose ends. Why did the killings take place? Was Buck jealous of Mac's attentions toward Jennifer? Was there really something going on between Mac and Jennifer? It looked like there was definitely something there but again we were shown too little of the island sequence to figure it all out. What about the other visitors to the island? How can we be sure it wasn't someone entirely different?
Four people were on the island. One washed up on shore dead and dismembered. Two returned to civilization. Where is the fourth? Maybe he did it. Or maybe he arranged it with Buck and or Jennifer and intentionally disappeared. Why didn't anyone think of that?