You get the impression that Just Add Water was trying to be something quirky, something special, but it falls short. It does not quite match its offbeat aspirations, but comes across as stereotypical and predictable. The film's protagonist, Ray (Dylan Walsh, Nip/Tuck), is a loser, stuck in the dead-end town of Trona. The town was abandoned by all who could leave, including the local police force, and has been taken over by the teenage criminal Dirk and his posse of whitetrash youths. But if living in Trona was not bad enough, Ray finds out that his wife is having an affair and his son (Jonah Hill, Superbad) is not really his son. On top of this, his mother and sister-in-law kill each other as they fight over his mother's secret recipe for lemon meringue pie. The only good thing in Ray's life is his trips to the supermarket, where he sees the checkout girl Nora (Tracy Middendorf) as the love that should have been and, maybe, could still be.
The plot is very predictable, which is not always a bad thing if the dialogue sparkles, but here you only catch glimpses of the promise of a good script. This is a bizarre film, but the weirdest thing is Danny DeVito's involvement. Why he took this role and then did nothing with it to produce a memorable cameo is baffling. But then this is a baffling film.
cpyke@thenational.ae
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Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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