Flat, inept dialog and worse direction. Stereotypes all. Every character spoke in the same, overacted voice. Each and everyone was stilted in performance, except for the singer near the end.Overall execution was poor. Camera and lighting were as flat as the dialog. Everyone represented a 'type'. There was no reality to the characters, nor was there and tone of clever.The film only came to life for about three minutes, when a gifted Gospel singer sang words not written by the writer/director.There could have been a good comedy with the premise, but it never surfaced.

After living nine years in Texas, I don't find, as some others, that the people in the film are caricatures. There are really people that shallow in society - especially at the top.All of the AIDS myths are exposed, and rumors are floating around town that it's the water that makes you gay. Spencer (John Hallum), who is gay, got a little drunk and started it at a party. It spread like wildfire.In the meantime, Spencer's friend, Alex (Keri Jo Chapman) is reconnecting with her best friend from high school, Grace (Teresa Garrett), and finds that her marriage broke up because of a lesbian affair.The local reverend (John Addington), who runs an ex-gay ministry, is leading protest against an AIDS hospice. When Alex isn't helping Spencer fight them, she rents a stack of lesbian films to watch. Soon, she is in the supply closet at the hospice with Grace.Mark Anderson (Derrick Sanders), who works at his father's paper, meets a new friend at the ex-gay ministry, who came to the meeting by mistake. Soon, he faces his father and states he will not hide anymore.The surprise is that all ended well. There may have been too many stories to fit into the time, but it all worked, and it was an enjoyable film.

I worked on "It's in the Water" back in '96, '97. It was one of the funnest projects I've worked on. I can tell you that Kelli Herd is a brilliant, bold story-teller with a great sense of timing. The casting was great. Regarding the actors, I was impressed at the effortless risk taking that took place not only in the auditions, but more over, on the big screen. Barbara Lassiter (mom) is too much, I remember when they were shooting the scene where she is lecturing her daughter Alex about her gay kiss,noting "Couldn't you have done something like this on the weekend?" The scene when shot, was very moving, dramatic, powerful. Once edited, I was amazed that they turned that scene into its own mini-melodrama with a comic twist. The whole cast and crew was very friendly. One of the more outstanding moments in the making of the movie was when we were filming in the hospital. In the middle of a scene, one of the 1K lights set off the building alarm and sprinkler system, made for a short delay, but all was well. Kelli provided some of the best craft service food I've ever had much! All behjind the scenes stuff aside, The plot is outrageous. Who'd think It's in the Water? Can't say I don't relate though. For whatever reason, this is truly one of my favorite movies, very smart.

This film reeks of after-school special. While I appreciate the effort made to provide small-town quirky humor on an issue that is being dealt with in a humorless manner in many small towns, the acting rivals high school plays (and the sets aren't much better, while we're there). Script is banal; the only reasons worth seeing this film are to hear the gospel choir at the end (the scene is annoying but the singing itself is good) and the relationship between Mark and Tomas. Their scenes are done at a very good pace, and the actors playing the two are not as uncomfortable in front of a camera as the others seem to be.