An Exercise In Nonsense

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

So many movies today are masterpieces of script; highly complex storylines, intricately woven, with shocking twists, inundating the eyeballs with action scene after another, or mind-blowing visual effects. Or if a comedy, goofy, semi-humorous (just enough to keep us amused), sometimes if we're lucky truly original observations of human nature. Other films are tremendously impactful performances, requiring highly controversial plots and ultra-intense emotional performances (Example: "Doubt" with Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman).Some people need that kind of movie to be "entertained" or impacted as the credits roll.Films like Drunkboat were far more commonplace in decades past. I miss them and bravo that at least in 2010, once in a while, one still gets squeezed out of a production company. As of this writing (May 2018), only about 500 people have rated it...eight years after its release. What the hell?I loved it. It goes without saying it was a simple story. It's all too easy to knock it and reduce it to nothing. One either has the receptors for appreciation of this kind of film or not. I know a bad movie when I see one...I've watched plenty. A film should take one into it; into the life of it. The acting was perfect from everyone. That is to say, the actors lived their roles. I never once sensed they were acting. Malkovich was in "Hollywood" in his role in Warm Bodies. Not here. He studied for this role. He walked on to Warm Bodies, I'd bet. And I liked Warm Bodies very much, but not it's not JM's best work.I suppose this is a film for aspiring actors to study. This isn't a film for folks who need to stick to movies like Ready Player One to be entertained. Absolutely, there's no chase scenes, no murder, intense suspense, etc. It's a story. It wasn't intended to be anything else. I hope the Director is pleased with his work, because I was fully captured by it and seriously considered giving it an 8. I take iMDB ratings seriously, and an 8 must be exceptional, however. I've only given a several 9's., and either no or maybe one 10. A 1 would be just north of 90 minutes of static, that somehow made it to the big screen.Drunkboat is a very sincere film for filmphiles who can sit back, relax and appreciate the depth in the subtleties of the human condition. If that last sentence doesn't make sense...you'll surely think it sucks.

Abe (Jacob Zachar) wants to sail on a boat to a fantasy island and beyond. His mother Eileen (Dana Delany) is wary of her brother drunk Mort (John Malkovich). Mr. Fletcher (John Goodman) has a trashed boat that he hopes to unload on some unsuspecting fool. Fletcher scrams naive Abe to buy the boat but they need an adult to do the deal. That's where his unsuspecting alcoholic uncle Mort comes in.This is completely lifeless. Bob Meyer is the writer and director. He doesn't seem to have done anything other than act in a few french movies. The big mystery is how such an unknown got so many great actors to be in his film. That mystery is infinitely more interesting than watching this movie. This has no energy and no power. The dialog is lifeless and so are the performances. Jacob Zachar is very annoyingly over confident. If he was some cute young kid, his character might actually work. John Goodman almost gives something but it's drowned out by this meandering badly directed indie.

This is not a film for those who want speedy action, but the reverse. This odd movie plays entirely by its own rules, and it is not a masterpiece, but a really good try!John Goodman, John Malkovitch, and Dena Delaney, are the pro stars in this little film about life, and dreams, while the younger kids (Jacob Zachar, and Skipp Sudduth in particular) do a great job here, too.Slowly goes the story forward, in some ways reminding me of Kurosawa's movies about odd people, like his Dodeskaden.A great, fresh, experience this film was, and I can't for my life understand why it has got such a low point as 5.0!

Sunk without a trace, as this quirky little film obviously did, what with good, respected and serious actors John Malkovich and John Goodman aboard (enough of the puns....)I caught it on Sky Movies premier, partly as I thought it might be a serious drama concerning alcoholism. It isn't but has comedic, jaunty music and amateurish, unconnected fantasy sequences that left me in a constant state of confusion.If one knew the source material (if you actually wanted to) then that might help and whilst Malkovich and Goodman kept it watchable, everything else is a distracting, mawkish blur that makes no sense. The only two user reviews I could find (on IMDb) were obviously fans and so loved it but I wanted an unbiased opinion. It wasn't a total waste of time, with some very good acting, especially from the alcoholic Malkovic, but I couldn't help feel that my time would have been better spent doing something else, or at least, purposeful, like the washing up!I guess that the actual narrative (what there is of one) isn't going to be what attracts you, here, so I'm not going to hurt my brain any further by racking it and trying to write it down. Apologies if that disappoints anyone. It was director Bob Meyer's first and only attempt as writer/director of a movie and it badly shows.