Dir: John Stockwell. US.2005. 110mins.
Hot bods and cool underwater cinematography partially make up for a tiredplot and annoying tone in Into The Blue, a lightweight action/adventureabout sexy young things diving for shipwrecks off the Bahamas.

Given that the two lead bodsbelong to Jessica Alba - especially hot after Fantastic Four and SinCity - and 2 Fast 2 Furious's Paul Walker, Into The Blueshould be capable of decent theatrical openings in many territories. But thecore - predominantly male - teen audience will be quickly used up, leaving thistreasure hunt caper to look for the rest of its gold in the video market.

After its acquisition of MGMearlier in the year, Sony releases the film wide in the US this weekend.Competition for young audiences will be fairly stiff, but the Walker-Albapairing should ensure a significant opening take.

Twentieth Century Fox willroll the movie out in other territories between now and the end of the year.Alba - whose 2005 hits have both done slightly better internationally thandomestically - will be the primary draw overseas, although the sun 'n' sandelement certainly won't hurt in wintry European markets.

Screenwriter Matt Johnsonpreviously wrote motorbike thriller Torque, director John Stockwell madesurfing adventure Blue Crush, and Walker, of course, broke out in TheFast And The Furious. Into The Blue, though, makes those films lookpositively gritty.

Walker plays Jared, astruggling 'free diver' (one who doesn't use scuba gear) whose dream of findinga big salvage jackpot is shared by girlfriend and fellow diver Sam (Alba).

Diving one day with Jared'svacationing childhood friend Bryce (Caan, from Ocean's 12) and hislatest squeeze Amanda (Scott, from Walking Tall), the couple findsevidence of two wrecks - one an ancient ship that could be worth a fortune, theother a plane loaded with drugs.

The discoveries at firstturn Jared and Bryce - as well as their girlfriends - against each other beforethe four of them get tangled up with Jared's more successful rival Derek(Brolin), a nasty local gang and a vicious drug kingpin.

The plot, though, is aflimsy construction that seems to be a secondary concern for everyone involved.Little dramatic momentum develops as it unfolds and the only real thrills comein the climactic 15 minutes.

Instead of drama the filmoffers a collage of island holiday action: plenty of jet skiing and diving, alittle partying, a harmless fight or two and a bit of romance (though no sex,thanks to the PG-13 US rating).

Bryce and Amanda are boozyparty animals, while Jared and Sam are aggravatingly wholesome. Caan produces afew funny moments but the other performances are all routine.

Thankfully, Stockwell setsthe majority of the film on or under the glinting, crystal clear water. Most ofthe underwater scenes seem to take place in just a few dozen feet of ocean, sothere's nothing particularly awesome about the flora or fauna (and certainlynone of the quasi-mysticism seen in French-produced free diving classic TheBig Blue).

But Stockwell and secondunit director Peter Zuccarini get some very attractive shots of the four leadactors frolicking mermaid-like under the waves, with particular attention beingpaid to Walker's torso and Alba's bum.

The local sharks are atfirst dismissed as harmless and cute, but later in the film they come to play amore grisly role. The underwater action is mostly fairly low-key - until, thatis, the film's final 15 minutes, when Into The Blue abruptly turns intoa more aggressive outing complete with bloody shark attacks and explodingharpoon guns.

Production companies
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Mandalay Pictures

US distribution
20th Century Fox

International distribution
20th Century Fox International

Executive producers
Peter Guber
Louis G Friedman
Ori Mamur
Matt Luber

Producer
David A Zelon

Screenplay
Matt Johnson

Cinematography
Shane Hurlbut

Production design
Maia Javan

Editors
Nicolas De Toth
Denis Virkler

Music
Paul Haslinger

Main cast
Paul Walker
Jessica Alba
Scott Caan
Ashley Scott
Josh Brolin