Jaws

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Written by: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb










I'll start by being as clear as possible: I love "Jaws."  It's the kind of movie that, no matter what else is going on, I will go out of my way to see.  I've seen it on the big screen three or four times (thanks to midnight movies and my local theater's "Classic Film Wednesday" series).  It was one of the first DVDs I purchased.  Heck, I'll even watch it edited on TV - commercials and all.  This fanaticism may seem a bit much, but Spielberg's final product is so great that I feel it's totally warranted.

Let's start with the cast.

--Roy Scheider plays police chief Brody, who has moved to Amity to get away from the dangers of being a police officer in a big city.  A bit ironically, he's taken a job as police chief on an island despite the fact that he's afraid of water - an irony that comes into play when the shark attacks begin.  What makes Scheider's performance so amazing is the way he managed to flesh out the character with little subtleties.  There are hints that something traumatic happened to him wherever he worked before, but he wears that trauma in his eyes and the way he responds to situations.

--Richard Dreyfuss is fantastic as Hooper, a young marine biologist who arrives to investigate the shark attacks and finds out exactly what kind of monster they are up against.  He manages to keep one foot in the world of "preppie" and another in the realm of "rugged individual."

--Robert Shaw brings mad shark hunter Quint to life, a character cut from the broken mold of Captain Ahab.  The "Indianapolis" speech he gives just before the final scenes is unforgettable.  Shaw's performance in this film is, without a doubt, one of the greatest acting performances in the history of cinema.

--The supporting cast - Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, etc. - help bring Amity Island to life and provide verisimilitude to what could have easily deteriorated into an absurdity of horror.

I said I'd start with the cast, but I also think I'll end with the cast.  I could go on and on about "Jaws" and what makes it great, but ultimately you should experience it for yourself.  You need to hear for yourself John Williams's amazing score, which, without any visuals, could evoke the presence of the beast.  You need to see for yourself what happens to the Orca fishing boat.  None of it can be conveyed, it must be experienced.

I'll wrap it up simply: "Jaws" is one of the greatest films ever.  There is very little wrong with this movie, and a whole lot that is done right.  I'd even argue that it's nearly perfect.