Overrated

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

With documentaries you often get engaged in topics you knew nothing about and with short film documentaries this can often be a challenge because unless the topic is snappy and simple, it is hard to make it fit the time without coming over as too brief or too much delivering just dry facts. With The Accidental Sea the approach is to muse around the subject, giving the viewer enough information to understand so that we can then spend 10 minutes wandering (and wondering) around in the subject.Knowing nothing of this sea, I looked it up on Wikipedia afterwards, it was interesting to learn more about the accidental creation of the Salton Sea area and what it once was, but to be honest reading the facts was not as engaging as the film. With clear and engaging narration and material, writer/director Riggs informs us of the area, shows archive footage of what it was and brings us bang up to date before letting us explore the modern day emptiness of the area, abandoned homes, rusted vehicles and so on. The final line is the key thing about the film that I liked, because the tone here is not just about looking back and shrugging but rather seeing what it is now and also pondering on what could be.It is a nicely structured and delivered documentary which doesn't overwhelm with facts but gives you enough to engage and then takes you on a thoughtful stroll.