Art film/buddy flick weighed down by the filmmakers' bloodlust...

Rating: 6/10 (26 July 2006)

Shark attacks off an East Coast retreat equal bloody massacres in the water. All the shark killings in the first hour of Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" have the same mentality of the slasher movies that became vogue sometime in the late '70s. But this is what sold tickets--and made Peter Benchley's source novel a huge bestseller--yet the carnage isn't so much scary as it is depressing, and Spielberg displays no remorse for the victims (he's too anxious to show severed limbs). Police chief Roy Scheider, scientist Richard Dreyfuss and bounty hunter Robert Shaw sail out to capture the shark, and the machismo and male-camaraderie turn the film into something headier: a character study with art-film flourishes (and indeed, some of those shots from the fishing vessel are beautifully done). It's a gripping, compelling film without being a lot of fun. Dreyfuss' brainy nerd gets laughs, though his nonchalant sarcasm is overplayed (and his final act re-emergence is a crowd-pleasing though dunderheaded move); Scheider is a terrific Everyman who isn't afraid to sink into the background; and Shaw is dead-on in his bloodthirsty portrayal of a hunter obsessed. **1/2 from ****