Magic in the Water
| Magic in the Water | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Rick Stevenson |
| Produced by | William Stevenson Matthew O'Connor |
| Screenplay by | Rick Stevenson Icel Dobell Massey |
| Story by | Ninian Dunnett Rick Stevenson Icel Dobell Massey |
| Starring |
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| Music by | David Schwartz |
| Cinematography | Thomas Burstyn |
| Edited by | Allan Lee |
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Production
company |
Triumph Films
Oxford Film Company |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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101 minutes |
| Country | United States Canada |
| Language | English Dutch |
| Box office | US$2.68 million |
Magic in the Water is a 1995 family film directed by Rick Stevenson and starring Mark Harmon, Joshua Jackson and Sarah Wayne. It is about a fictional lake monster in British Columbia. The film was distributed by TriStar Pictures and produced by Triumph Films.
Ashley Black (Sarah Wayne) is depressed because her father Jack (Mark Harmon) spends all his time focusing on his job instead of her and her older brother Joshua (Joshua Jackson). She constantly records his radio show and listens to it. One day, her father takes them to a remote Canadian lake that was popular with tourists due to a myth about an aquatic monster named Orky. They rented a cabin next to an elderly First Nations man who uses a wheelchair. Jack meets a local psychiatrist named Wanda (Harley Jane Kozak) who is trying to aid some local men who claim that they have been possessed by Orky. When Ashley runs away, Jack also has the same experience whilst looking for her. As a result, he becomes more devoted to his children.
Ashley and Joshua find out that the reason that Orky is possessing people is to try and tell them that he is dying because a businessman is dumping toxic waste into the lake. Ashley and Joshua help the old man in the cabin next to theirs to find a totem pole in the woods. With the help of Hiro (Willie Nark-Orn), the son of some Japanese monster seekers, they expose the businessman's illegal dumping. Orky, however, still dies from the poisonous waste. The old man summons a lighting bolt which enters a hole in the cave where Orky lives. Ashley and Hiro stay on the dock overnight and leave some cookies out. When she realizes that the cookies have been eaten Ashley screams with joy which suggests that Orky is still alive, or reincarnated.
Magic in the Water received negative reviews from critics and holds a 21% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews.
Critic Leonard Maltin wrote in his book that "All the magic must be in the water; there's certainly none on the screen. Routine family film feels like recycled Spielberg."Roger Ebert criticized the film's special effects, describing the creature Orky as an "ashen Barney". He also notes that Orky barely appears in the film at all.
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