The Reef

The story is simple: Two men and two women — connected either by birth or love, even once lost — take a sailing trip to the Great Barrier Reef. There's a reason it's called that, and it's right there in the title. The reef scratches the shinola out of their guide's yacht, flipping it over, Poseidon-style.

While the guide stays with his topsy-turvy ship, the foursome decide to swim/float for it. From there, it's just a waiting game — for both viewer and players — for the sharks to start picking them off.

Nothing here approaches the fear level of "Jaws," but then, what does? It's still a tale (tail?) effectively told by writer/director/producer Andrew Traucki, in his follow-up to 2007's true-life croc-attack thriller, "Black Water." His greatest attribute offered is the crisp, beautiful underwater photography ... until the ocean starts filling with chum, that is.

Among the no-name (to these shores at least) cast of six, Zoe Naylor (TV's "McLeod's Daughters") and Damian Walshe-Howling ("Ned Kelly") make a strong impression as exes whose flame has a clear shot at rekindling, if the sharks don't fatally douse it first.

One thing's for certain: You'll never look at giant turtles the same way again. —Rod Lott