'Dark Tide' is another bad break for Halle Berry

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Academy Award winner Halle Berry is back on the big screen today, in the action thriller Dark Tide. In the film, Berry, who stars opposite her real life fiancé Olivier Martinez, plays a so-called shark whisperer who has an emotional setback, but must overcome her fear, face her inner demons, and get back in the water with great white sharks.

Thus far, the movie has received universally poor reviews from critics. Frank Scheck from the Hollywood Reporter said, “Despite a talented cast lead by Halle Berry, director John Stockwell fails to take more than a bite out of this lackluster shark thriller.” Stephen Holden of the New York Times writes, “Long before it ends Dark Tide capsizes and sinks with a sickening glug.”

The 45-year-old actress is no stranger to taking on lackluster roles that don’t connect with moviegoers lately. Since winning the Academy Award for best actress in 2001 for Monsters Ball, Berry has starred in slew of box office flops.

In 2004 Berry starred in the superhero epic Catwoman, which is considered one of the worst movies of all time. The movie brought in merely $40 million domestically and cost $100 million to make. Berry even won a Razzie Award (a parody of the Oscar for bad films) for her performance, which she accepted in person.

“I never in my life thought that I would be here, winning a Razzie. It’s not like I ever aspired to be here, but thank you,” she said during her acceptance speech.

But since accepting her award for her poor performance, she hasn’t upped her game. Berry starred alongside Bruce Willis in Perfect Stranger in 2007, and that same year was featured opposite fellow Oscar winner Benicio Del Toro in Things We Lost in the Fire. Both films had minimal box office success and failed to win over critics.

Berry has had success with established brand action films where she has had a supporting role, such as 2002’s blockbuster Bond movie Die Another Day and the superhero sequel X-Men: Last Stand. But she has really struggled when she is a film’s sole selling point.

One small bright spot was 2010’s Frankie & Alice, when she played a woman with multiple personality disorder. The film scored Berry a nomination for a Golden Globe, but was only released in a small number of theaters, and, according to Box Office Mojo, had a domestic ticket sales total of merely $10,670.

Dark Tide might very well end up being another film in a long line of on-screen ‘fails’ for the Hollywood beauty. Berry’s fans are probably anxiously waiting to see the leading lady back on top, with a role truly worthy of the cost of a movie ticket. But from the looks of things, no one should hold their breath waiting for that happen.

Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter at @WitherspoonC