Calm ‘After the Storm’ Fails to Whip Up Much Action

“After the Storm,” a tale of greed, lust and mistrust based on an Ernest Hemingway short story, should be disreputable fun. Instead, tonight’s USA film is hardly stormy or stirring, let alone involving. More often than not, it’s as flat as the ocean’s placid surface.

Benjamin Bratt, back on the small screen after his successful “Law & Order” stint, plays the nominal protagonist Arno, a fit beachcomber who makes a meager living by selling junk found along the shore. He’s sweet on Coquina (Mili Avital), a delicate beauty who’s “scared to fall in love” with him.

Arno, in his words, doesn’t like dirty jobs or dirty money, which explains his reticence to work for the shifty Ortega (Nestor Serrano). Yet that doesn’t stop Arno from getting down and dirty with Janine (Simone-Elise Girard), the wife of Jean-Pierre (Armand Assante), a calculating Frenchman who charms wealthy women into chartering his boat off the coast of the Bahamas.

With pivotal players in place, the slight plot finally kicks in when a bootlegger’s yacht sinks during a storm, prompting Arno to dive for the valuable jewels on board. And close behind is the stealthy Jean-Pierre, who’s aware of the gold hidden in the yacht’s safe.

From here on, these shallow schemers hatch a series of double-crosses. Arno wants Coquina to manipulate Jean-Pierre, who wants Coquina to trick Arno, who tells Janine to turn on Jean-Pierre. At one point, Coquina says, “This is getting very complicated,” which really isn’t the case in the uneventful script from A.E. Hotchner, a longtime Hemingway friend who’s adapted other works by the acclaimed author.

Occasionally, a meddlesome shark pops in to pump up the action, but that doesn’t occur often enough, and the meandering pace set by director Guy Ferland is a drawback.

Early on, Assante mumbles a bit, giving the impression he’d rather be somewhere at sea. As it happens, that’s how viewers may feel during this slender saga, which is likely to leave them with a sinking feeling.

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* “After the Storm” can be seen tonight at 9 on USA. The network has rated it TV-14-DV (may be unsuitable for children younger than 14, with special advisories for suggestive dialogue and violence).