Maybe I shouldn't have seen the director's cut

Rating: Null/10 (10 August 2000)

I'd never seen the film, but had been only told passionate things about it, and indeed there are many aspects of The Big Blue to recommend it. I just came home from seeing the director's cut in a theater on La Brea in Los Angeles called the Showcase. This bloated cut masked what could have been a very tight film that probably resembles more closely the comments that I've been reading since I came home.
It's funny how the non-American actors totally out-did their American co-actors. I really feel that the Americans could have been cut back considerably for a far more pleasing film. The sequences with Arquette, particularly toward the end, felt unnatural compared to the world Besson created between the two divers, though I did care enough about their relationship that I got pretty upset when Mayol left the pregnant Joanna behind for the sea, just like his own father...
Anyway, an interesting story, fairly involving for the most part, but I have a feeling I would have been better off seeing the non-US, non-director's cut. That said, if you live in Los Angeles, you may be one of the few people in the world who get to see this film on the big screen. Check it out.