Trailer for 'Dark Tide' Proves Halle Berry's Fall from Grace

Halle Berry as a shark expert. The very sentence is enough to send giggles through anyone with even a passing knowledge of film acting talent. The meteoric rise of Halle Berry to Oscar winning actress considered one of the all time great beauties is one of the colossal unsolved mysteries in Hollywood history. Mediocre talent combined with unexceptional looks easily topped by half a dozen women in the average Wal-Mart checkout lines just doesn't seem to translate into Berry's surprising rise to the top.

Berry's fall from grace, however; now, that's no surprise at all.

The trailer for "Dark Tide" has been released and moviegoers are now being asked to swallow a bloody piece of chum in the form of Halle Berry being believable as a shark expert. Anybody remember when Denise Richards was supposed to be believable as -- well, actually, as anything? "Dark Tide" is likely to go down in history alongside movies that ask just way too much of audiences when it comes to suspending their disbelief about the ability of an actor to play a certain level of intelligence.

Halle Berry's penchant for crying at awards shows is not likely to be thrust upon suspecting viewers in regard to "Dark Tide." The film looks more like something you would expect to see pimped as a SyFy Original. Oh sure, there are plenty of scenes of Berry in a bikini which should be enough to thrill audience members who think a woman with the body of a skinny male Olympic swimmer is the epitome of sexy. At least the sight of Berry parading around in her bikini might be enough to draw attention away from the laughable concept that she could pull off playing a shark expert.

Halle Berry will doubtlessly be crying somewhere on the night that "Dark Tide" premieres. After all, it has been a decade since she somehow managed to snag an Oscar for "Monster's Ball" on top of collecting a handful of trophies for playing Dorothy Dandridge. You can't necessarily fault Berry for not being able to translate Oscar gold into a respectable resume. Proof of this lies in the following list of names: Gwyneth Paltrow, Helen Hunt, and Luise Rainer. Berry presents a special case, however.

She just never was that good in much of anything. The breathless excitement that Halle Berry engendered as both an actress and a great screen beauty was destined to quickly expire because she was, is, and will never be either.

The wasteland of movies into which Berry tiptoed with her Oscar clasped tightly to her tear stained breast includes one candidate for the worst of the past decade: "Catwoman," and a selection of films that even the most hardcore Berry fan would be hard pressed to remember. "Dark Tide" seems unlikely to turn that tide even in the face of hungry sharks.