sell me on this one. i feel like i must've missed something cause i honestly don't see how it could be all that great, and i'm supposed to like slow, artfaggy stuff like this.
What put Knife in the Water over the top for me was the... how should I put this... eroticism. When you first see the woman, I kind of thought "She really doesn't look that good. I don't know if I can buy these guys fighting over her for the rest of the movie." But she was, subtle enough that I didn't notice at first, becoming more and more desirable as the tension between the two guys increased.
I didn't know how it was going to end up (I figured maybe there would be a stabbing... probably what I was supposed to think), but I knew the woman would be at the center. I don't know if she was actually changing or it seemed that way because I was buying into the guys' competition, but the two were complimenting each other, by the end creating a very thick sexual tension, the pay off to which was quite satisying, in an indulgent kind of way. The film was begging for a sharp sexual realease. So yeah, real nice build of sexual tension, that's what made it for me.