How good acting, editing, directing and music can overcome a silly script

Rating: 6/10 (29 October 2001)

It's a testament to Spielberg's talent that he could make a movie like Jaws into a revered classic. The plot is incredible silly. You have a ocean full of perfectly edible creatures. Yet the SUPER shark only munches on people from one particular beach in New England. Yeah,un-huh, sure.But guess what, it works. Spielberg wisely builds up the suspense. We know the shark is out there and hungry. Yet we have to use our imagination on just how scary the shark is. So the tension and suspence builds and builds as the movie progresses. The New England setting works effectively. The extras all look and act like normal people. Giving the movie a sense of believability that say a Flordia beach setting would lack. The acting is wonderful. Shaw,Scneider and Dreyfuss throw themselves completely into their roles. Even if the characters are rather one dimensional. You can almost feel their fear at the climax. John Williams music is tight, but effective. Usually when Williams scores a movie he practically has music for every scene. (Which most of the time is a good thing) But keeping it to a minimum it's builds the suspence. Recommend if nothing else so many cliches stem from this movie's success. That and Kevin Smith references it in almost all his films.