Water

I'm a big fan of the late George Harrison. Not only for his terrific music, but also as a film producer. He and his manager, Dennis O'Brien, launched Handmade Films. This small studio out of England released a lot of terrific films. Life Of Brian, Time Bandits, Withnail And I, and The Long Good Friday, to name a few. I've been a fan of all of them, even Shanghai Surprise, their biggest flop. Today I was able to finally catch up with one from the Handmade library that I had never seen before, 1985's Water.

Cascara is a small Caribbean island under British rule. It's inhabitants are made up of people who have survived ship wrecks. Their peaceful existence is threatened when Britain decides that they want to sell off the island to the highest bidder and uproot the residents to another isle. Cascara's pot smoking Governor, Michael Cain, thinks he has found a way to save the colony when an American oil company, who is there shooting a commercial, strike something more valuable than oil, designer water.

I am big fan of Caine's, and I really enjoy watching him in comedies. He is perfect as the laid back Governor. He is aided by a great supporting cast that includes Valerie Perrine, Branda Vaccaro, Billy Connelly, Jimmie Walker, Dick Shawn, and Fred Gwynne.

The screenplay, by Dick Clement, who also directed, Bill Persky, and Ian La Frenais, is very witty and clever with some terrific one liners. It also has a great score from Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Eddy Grant. There's even a very cool concert at the end of the film featuring some music legends.

The movie reminds me a lot of the Robin Williams vehicle Club Paradise, and the two would make a great double bill. Water is a really fun and loose comedy.

It's available on dvd.