MOVIE: The Shape of Water receives flood of awards

THIS hasn’t been a great year for outstanding movies. Very good ones yes, but nothing exceptional. The Shape of Water may just be the best of what’s on offer. 

Think back to last year where we enjoyed the amazing ‘La La Land’ and ‘Arrival’, both five star offerings. This year what we appear to have is a number of solid four star affairs, many of which contain five star acting performances. 

Such examples are ‘The Darkest Hour’, ‘Ladybird’ and ‘Three Billboards’, where Gary Oldman, Saoirse Ronan and Frances McDormand all steal the show.

‘The Shape of Water’ leads the Oscar running this time out with 13 nominations and  once again, the acting categories are where a lot of the focus lies. 

The lead role is taken by Sally Hawkins (‘Maudie’ and ‘Paddington’) with excellent support from both Richard Jenkins and Octavia Spencer who have all been recognised by the academy for their performances. 

And another cast member who can count themselves unlucky not to have received an Oscar acting nod is the always excellent Michael Shannon. 

The story, which was inspired by the 1954 horror, ‘The Creature From The Black Lagoon’, was also a childhood fantasy of monster obsessed director, Guillermo del Toro (‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ and ‘Hellboy’). 

Hawkins plays Elisa, a mute, isolated woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore. 

Her life changes forever when she dicovers that the lab's classified secret is a mysterious, scaled creature from South America that lives in a water tank. 

As Elisa develops a unique bond with her new friend, she soon learns that its fate and very survival lies in the hands of a hostile Government agent.

Hawkins superbly conveys intense emotion with a glance or a furrowed brow and the unlikely love story that develops is likely to pull at the heartstrings. 

There are a number of plot holes that stop this from becoming an amazing movie, but it’s a very good one, which we score a shapely, 4 out of 5 stars.  

Other releases: Black Panther – 2.5 Stars

Paul O’Rourke