Gripped in The Jaws

Rating: 8/10 (17 July 2006)

Jaws is really two stories in one, a wedding of An Enemy of the People with Moby Dick.
In part one, we confront the conflict of evils and goods represented by the collision between the police chief and mayor over keeping the beaches open in face of threat. At points the book and the movie hint at that classical collision of values worthy of an Ibsen or an Arthur Miller in An Enemy of the People: the needs of the community to make a living as opposed to the potential hazards they are creating. The film and the book upon which it is based approach but do not attain a ranking with the classics.
Near tragedy for the mayor's son persuades the mayor to hire the real shark hunter.
Thus ends the conflict of values in Part I and begins Part II The Fish hunting story of three men against the smartest and strongest that ever swam.
Can they beat the Great White? The movie is gripping throughout!