*
Drunkboat is an insipid little
film that I had stumbled upon (although 'tripped over' may be a more accurate
phrase) purely by chance. I came
across it at a bootleg DVD stand in Korea, and seeing that it had John
Malkovich and John Goodman (two actors I greatly admire) in it, I thought I
would give it a try. What a waste
of two very talented actors.
Despite the poorly written script and lackluster plot, both Malkovich
and Goodman somehow still manage to deliver admirable performances, but it's something akin
to listening to Vladimir Horowitz play on a Chinese-made piano.
Malkovich plays
a recovering alcoholic/ex-writer who returns to his childhood home in the
Chicago suburbs, occupied by his sister and adolescent nephew. The nephew, along with a friend, are
goaded by maritime stories, mostly passed down by the nephew's older brother,
and have extravagant plans of procuring a sailboat in which to travel the world
in. John Goodman plays a scheming
huckster, who in addition to dealing in bottles of ersatz Cutty Sark, also
sells ramshackle boats. The boys,
with the mother away, need Malkovich to sign the bill of sale, as they are both
underage. Serving as 'bookends' to
this simple story, is the boy's older brother, a drifter who has had run-ins
with both Goodman's and Malkovich's characters. And well, that's about it.
Drunkboat is an
independent film, directed and co-written by Bob Meyer, a little-known
actor. It's his first and only
attempt at directing/writing. I've
often been drawn to independent films because they often tread 'unsafe'
territory, and by 'unsafe' I mean a financial gamble for the films'
producers. A well-made indie film
can often present us with meaningful stories, offering insight into our own existence. Many of which end up badly, culminating
in a non-Hollywood ending, so to speak.
God forbid a movie should end sadly, so say the high priests of
Hollywood. But there are a lot of
really bad indie films, as well.
These are usually the ones that seem satisfied with showing us the
mundane parts of our own existence, that most of us know all too well, coupled
with extraneous amounts of acoustic guitar music. Drunkboat does have a pretty good musical score actually. It's quirky and I liked it quite a
bit. The film tries to be quirky
in other ways, and seems pretty pleased with its failed attempt at
quirkiness. The long, drawn out
banter between Goodman and his business partner have a touch of writer's
arrogance to it. But it's neither
funny nor clever. And the camera's
obsession with a highly disheveled Malkovich gets old very quickly. Malkovich has a fascinating face, but
nearly every filmmaker who has used him exploits that feature, so it has little
effect here.
My main qualm
with Drunkboat is that it has nothing to say. At best, it makes attempts to comment on human struggles
with alcohol, and dishonesty, but is very superficial in doing so. We never get much deeper beyond the
surface. Combine that with a plot
that is wholly uninteresting and it doesn't amount to much. If you happen to come across this film
as I did, I hope your footwork is a bit more nimble than mine.
No comments:
Post a Comment