If I make a list this year of 'films you should watch' then Hard Tide is going to be on it. I thought I was going to see drug deals, mid level violence and handguns and all three of those are in fact in Hard Tide but what I didn't expect was what I got. Hard Tide isn't just another drug deal, thug movie (and trust me. I watch enough of those) this film has it all. Its beautifully shot and a lot of the time it has this wonderful 'old movie' style to it with sun reflections and lighting tricks making the film look far more impressive than a lot of films I've seen recently. If I say that a lot of the film reminded me 1970's films, then I mean that as a compliment. I love that look of Hard Tide. still-of-mem-ferda-and-nathanael-wiseman-in-hard-tide-(2015)-large- picture
The plot took turns that I didn't know about (and I don't mean in a 'he sees dead people ' manner. I'm not talking about plot twists. I'm talking about plot development. Nathanael Wiseman is great as 'Jake' who is the lead in the film. I only realised when the end credits rolled that Nathanael (along with Robert Osman) wrote and directed the film. 'Jake' shouldn't be a likable character because he deals drugs for a living, but he breaks that stereotypical drug dealer role that so often isn't broken in films. He is a person who has a conscience and who cares for other things in life, not just money. It doesn't take long for the audience to care about Jake, and thats down to the writing of his story and of course the performance by Nathanael. Sequel please!!!!!
The rest of the cast are great. There is a single scene very early on with Ralph Brown which actually was the first moment in the film where I realised how clever the writing was in Hard Tide and that I was in for something different. But it wasn't the last time I realised how smart the writing was.
Newcomer Alexandra Newick is great as 'Jade' and hopefully this will lead to more roles for her. Actually there isn't anything I could fault about Hard Tide. I had tension, it had dark humour, it had charm. Hard Tide was a great way to start my day (I started watching it at 8am).
