Waterproof (film)

Waterproof
Home release poster
Directed by	Barry Berman
Produced by	Cape Fear Filmworks
Starring	Burt Reynolds April Grace Whitman Mayo Orlando Jones
Cinematography	Stephen Thompson
Music by	J. Peter Robinson
Distributed by	Cloud Ten Pictures
Release date	August 2, 2001 (2001-08-02) (Urbanworld Film Festival)
Running time	94 minutes[1]
Country	United States
Language	English

Waterproof is a 2000 Christian drama film directed and written by Barry Berman and starring Burt Reynolds, April Grace, Whitman Mayo, and Orlando Jones. The film follows Tyree Battle (Grace) who takes Eli Zeal (Reynolds) to her hometown to recover after he is shot in the arm during a robbery committed by her 11 year old son.

The film was produced by Cape Fear Filmworks and distributed by Cloud Ten Pictures. It was completed in 1998 and released on video in 2001.

Plot[]

Tyree Battle is told over the phone at merchant Eli Zeal's store her son Thaniel has played truant. Thaniel, under the influence of two thugs, shoots Eli in the arm after a failed robbery. Tyree discovers him next to a wounded Eli and decides to drive them to the store for supplies to help Eli. After asking if Eli has any relatives to notify, to which he denies, she calls her mother Viola and briefly tells her she'll be arriving in Waterproof, Louisiana, her hometown. When they reach Waterproof, she tells Viola she wants Thaniel to stay and that he needs schooling. Though happy of their arrival, Viola is annoyed by Eli and disheartened that Tyree is only staying one day. Sugar, a centenarian; and Natty Battle, the brother of Tyree who is a mentally challenged man, converse with Thaniel while Viola argues with Tyree on why she didn't write. 'Brother Big' Battle, a proud alcoholic, walks in and talks with Tyree, and sees Eli sleeping in the house.

The police notice that no one is running Eli's store, so they ask Tyree's boss about her whereabouts. Tyree takes the bullets out of the gun that she took from Thaniel and throws them away. Eli demands to be taken to the hospital, but Tyre explains she doesn't want Thaniel to go to jail and that she will take him to a doctor in the morning. Viola, after talking with Tyree about Natty's mental disability supposedly from an accident caused by Brother Big and explains she got through with God's help. Tyree, who dislikes her beliefs, admits Thaniel has never been to church.

In the morning, Sugar convinces Tyree to keep Eli at the house until he heals, while Thaniel is put in a new school. Chris Hardwick, a boy once raised by Viola, briefly greets Tyree and Eli. Thaniel plays truant again but is caught truant by Brother Big who gives him a can of beer. Thaniel is carried back drunk by Big. As discipline Viola takes him to church along with Tyree and Eli. The pastor asks Eli about himself, to which he says he grew up Jewish. Tyree tries to help Natty remember her, before going to Chris' house and tells him Viola won't be working for her. Chris realizes she is the cab driver in the news that disappeared. During the night, Natty goes to a river to swim while Thaniel secretly follows. Natty sees Thaniel and pulls him into the water. Thaniel attacks Natty with a board; Natty takes the board and hits Thaniel on the head. Big brings an unconscious Thaniel to a house.

The next morning, Big calls Chris to help with Thaniel's non-fatal concussion. As they arrive home and Big tells Viola what happened, she gets angry as she believes he is lying and flies into a rage; afterward, in a conversation, Eli tells Chris that Thaniel shot him in the arm, yet he did not mean to. The FBI find the two thugs that committed the robbery and find letters to an address in Waterproof in Tyree's drawer. Tyree has an argument with Eli over the real reason she took them to Waterproof and confesses to accidentally hurting Natty instead of Big. She tells him that she was once in love with Chris; Big didn't approve and called for Natty's help, to which she hit Natty with a rock.

Tyree leaves in the car alone, and along the way remembers a time when she was younger. As the rest of the family is at church, listening to the service, Tyree walks in and stands along the pew. At night, Eli says he will tell what happened at the store if Tyree does not tell Viola what happened with Natty. Eli, however, tells a police officer that he only took a vacation and that the blood in his store was a cut from a newspaper rack. On the porch, she tells Viola and Big the truth. Tyree is baptized by the church congregation joined with the entire family, which includes Big and Eli.

In a post-credits scene, it is shown that Eli has sold the store to live in Waterproof.

Cast[]

• Burt Reynolds as Eli Zeal^[2]
• April Grace as Tyree Battle, Whitney Tucker portrays young Tyree
• Whitman Mayo as Sugar
• Orlando Jones as Natty Battle
• Ja'net Dubois as Viola Battle
• Anthony Lee as 'Brother Big' Battle
• Cordereau Dye as Thaniel Battle
• Gil Johnson as Chris Hardwick
• Joe Inscoe as Dr. Austin

Production[]

Filming took place in Wilmington, North Carolina and was completed in 24 days, with cinematography done by Stephen Thompson and with a production team that included Frank Capra Jr., Craig Fincannon, and Jonathan Cornick.^{[citation needed]}

For the role of Eli, Paul Newman, Gene Hackman and Jack Lemmon were originally considered.^[3]

Music[]

The music was composed by J. Peter Robinson with original songs by soul band Sonia Dada.^[4]

Release[]

Though completed in 1998, the film was left with no distributor until the rights were eventually purchased in 2000 by Cloud Ten Pictures. It later premiered at the Urbanworld Film Festival on August 2, 2001.^[5]

Reception[]

This section needs expansion. You can help by . (August 2018)

Ken James of Christian Spotlight Movie Reviews gave it a 4/5 and wrote, "Technically it is well done and on par with most other indie films. The acting is convincing and the story strong enough to captivate most willing to sit through some initially slow drama."^[6]

Home media[]

The film received a DVD and VHS release under Cloud Ten and Sony on October 30, 2001.^[7]

References[]

External links[]

• Waterproof in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Waterproof (2000) at IMDb
• Waterproof (2001) at Rotten Tomatoes