Film Review

Wife in The Water

Locally made drama 'Skin Deep' charts a course of murder along the racial divide
By Richard von Busack, the Metro
April 21, 2004 (first publishing)

ALITTLE GAME of sex and violence plays out around a Northern California hot tub. But in actuality, the locally made and produced film Skin Deep takes place on the road to Polanskiville. Mailon Rivera plays Anthony, a buppie who has done well for himself in the Silicon Valley and is enjoying the liberty of the weekend.

First comes a quick tryst with Alex (the intense Debra Wilson of Mad TV ), the heavily tattooed lady down the road. After a short Harley ride, Anthony returns to his troubled wife, Victoria (Kristen Shaw), who repels his attempts to climb aboard her. Just when they're about to try again, Anthony and Victoria's friends arrive: the abrasive Michael (Steve White), Anthony's pal from the old neighborhood, and his wife, Sarah (AJ Johnson). Sarah is the kind of heedlessly promiscuous woman who is usually denounced with the ugly word "freak," though the world would certainly be a less interesting place without them, wouldn't it? After too much wine and two (apparently) rebuffed passes at the host and the hostess, Sarah is discovered floating face down in the hot tub.

The problem with this suspicious death is magnified since Anthony is a successful black man married to a white woman. Moreover, the cops had already visited Anthony's house earlier on a noise complaint. When they did, Michael, always pugnacious, got into a little squabble with Jon Read's "Sgt. Weiss" (nudge, nudge). The three survivors turn on each other, and word of Anthony's cheating gets out. Finally, the angry Alex turns up, too, pissed off that Anthony's not dropping his wife for her.

Skin Deep is the first feature by Sacha Parisot, co-written and executive-produced by the former host of the Camera Cinema Club Ken Karn. As a mystery — well, at least the butler didn't do it. The film is most compelling as a study of racial rivalries. . . .

For the entire article, click here go to the Metro's web site.
From the April 21-27, 2004 issue of Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper.
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