[5]

Paul Newman returns as private eye Lew Harper, hired by an ex-flame to solve a blackmail case involving adultery and oil-rich land. As with the previous Harper film, the stakes are never high enough and no one’s quite worth caring about. The film is good for one suspenseful set piece involving a flooding room (hence the title?), but it’s a pretty sleepy movie otherwise. If you love Newman, he might be enough carry you over the finish line. Joanne Woodward is very good as the ex-flame and Murray Hamilton is memorable as a nasty oil baron. Young Melanie Griffith pops up as Woodward’s nymphet daughter. Directed by Stuart Rosenberg.