Movie Review - The Water Man

David Oyelowo is a Black British actor who had been a Shakespearean performer, working for years, but he got his break in mainstream, American films ten years ago when he was featured in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011). He's been appearing steadily in major Hollywood productions ever since. His biggest break was in Ava DuVernay's Selma (2014). People even thought he should have been nominated for an Oscar, but he was shut out, despite getting a ton of critical acclaim. Unfortunately, nothing Oyelowo has done in the wake of Selma has gotten him notice that would warrant any kind of acclaim or hype of any type, at least not in the United States. Oyelowo now has turned to directing with this being his feature debut in the director's chair.

He stars as Amos Boone, a father who is in the military. He has been serving overseas for some time, so much so that he's having issues with his son who has been alienated from him. A lot of those issues stem from Amos wanting his son to be more like him or do more stereotypically masculine things like play football or be tougher and not cry.

Lonnie Chavis (This Is Us and White Famous) co-stars as Gunner Boone, the 11-year-old son of Amos who rides a scooter everywhere he goes. He's basically an aspiring artist. He's working on a graphic novel about a detective investigating his own murder. He's a bit of a loner who visits funerals of people he doesn't know. He's also very much a mama's boy, but only because his father is not around due to his job. Gunner is even more so because it's revealed that his mother is sick, potentially dying from cancer.

One day, he overhears a girl talking about a legend set deep in the woods of Oregon. The legend is called "Water Man" and it's about a man who knows how to cheat death and live forever. Gunner becomes obsessed that this legend is real, so he sets out into the woods to try to find this mythical Water Man. He probably becomes obsessed because, as stated, he's a kid who lives in his own head and his own imagination. He doesn't really socialize. It's just him and his graphic novel. His social isolation could contribute to his naiveté or gullibility.

Amiah Miller (War for the Planet of the Apes and Lights Out) also co-stars as Jo Riley, the aforementioned girl who tells Gunner about the legend of Water Man. Like Gunner, she's also having issues with her dad, except her issues are extremely worse. We don't get the extent of how bad things are for her at home, but the assumption is that it's pretty bad because when we meet Jo, she's in fact living in a tent near the edge of the woods. She's basically homeless. Seeing an opportunity to get money from Gunner, she leads him on a journey into the woods to find the so-called Water Man.

From that point, it seems as if the film would be akin to something like the recent Finding 'Ohana (2021), which was itself a riff or imitation of The Goonies (1985). Finding 'Ohana had the added ingredient of being about the Hawaiian culture and heritage where that culture and heritage were at the forefront in a way that was unlike most Hollywood films. This film doesn't have that kind of culture and heritage. It wants to be simply an adventure story for children. It has as its foundation a boy dealing with a sick parent. In that regard, this film is comparable to A Monster Calls (2016). This would be fine if the adventure was compelling. A Monster Calls was moderately successful in that regard. This one is perhaps even less successful in that same regard.

In terms of tone, this film at times feels like DuVernay's A Wrinkle in Time (2018) in which Oyelowo was featured. In other words, it feels safe and a bit watered down. Even though it presents potentially dangerous situations or even traumatic ones for children, that danger or trauma never truly resonates. The recent Angelina Jolie flick, Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021), involves a particular danger that is echoed here. That Jolie flick had its flaws but I felt the danger that its child character faced than I did here. It might not be fair because at the end of the day, the only issue for Gunner is in his head, psychological. It's not like the physical danger in any of the aforementioned films involving children.

A Monster Calls was more about psychological danger as well, but that film felt more focused on the child's inner life. The screenplay here by Emma Needell in her feature debut doesn't have that focus. The film has a plot that goes into Jo's backstory. There's a plot that goes into an issue with Gunner's parents. It's a plot involving Amos lying to his wife, Mary, played by Rosario Dawson, for no real reason. The central conflict seems to be between Gunner and Amos, but the film pivots to the relationship between Gunner and Jo, as they go on their adventure. This would be fine, but, again, the adventure is rather lame. There are some cute moments, and one moment of peril, but the whole thing ends up being rather lackluster.

The poster for this film includes Gunner carrying a samurai sword. Indeed, Gunner carries a sword into the woods. This sets up something more thrilling happening, but this film doesn't deliver on that thrill.

Rated PG-13 for some language, scary images and peril.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 31 mins.

Available on Netflix.