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MOVIE: Submergence STARRING: James McAvoy, Alicia Vikander, Alexander Siddig, Celyn Jones

RATING: M REVIEWER: Leigh Paatsch

THE best thing about the elegantly meandering romantic drama Submergence is the perfection of its lead casting.

Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy connect with both an intimate chemistry and an open-hearted sincerity that are beyond the grasp of most actors.

Unfortunately, the film must stick to the austere game plan dictated by the JM Ledgard novel from which it has been adapted.

Therefore, Vikander and McAvoy spend most of the running time at literal opposite ends of the earth.

She is an marine biologist embarking on a month-long mission into one of the deepest ocean trenches on the planet. He is a secret agent chasing terrorists in Africa until one wrong move puts him in a right pickle in a jail cell.

Alicia keeps fretting about why James hasn’t called. James keeps wishing someone would get him a phone, or just get him the hell outta there.

In the meantime, the star-crossed couple mutually flash back to the first time they met, and desperately hope they may somehow meet again.

Though beautifully filmed and acted, Submergence prefers to get high on its own supply of wispy, drifty imagery at the expense of making this material truly matter to uncommitted viewers. (Though I am reliably informed those who worship the novel will relish the film’s respectful approach.)

When working in the space where the sensual meets the sentimental, veteran filmmaker Wim Wenders is able to coax fleeting moments of real longing and heartache.

However, Wenders does lose his way when it is all about Vikander and McAvoy working solo in their respective trying circumstances.