Very well executed

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

I had high hopes from this movie based on the description and I also enjoy Sean Astin as an actor so I thought it would be pretty good. I was wrong. First of all, it didn't really have any sense of adventure or suspense like I thought it would. While it did explore topics that I feel are important to delve into, it just wasn't done in a manner that was effective enough to capture interest or elicit emotion. The movie is very dialogue heavy and that dialogue is just not engaging in my opinion. I kept waiting for more to happen, but more never came.

I read about the story before watching the movie. It reminded me a movie I really liked, Against The Sun, about three soldiers trying to survive on a lifeboat after their bombardier crashed into the ocean. So I gave The Surface a shot. And what a disappointed that became. It's a really awful movie. The two main characters played by Sean Astin and Chris Mulkey have pointless and boring conversations on a boat in the middle of Lake Michigan. The acting is also pretty bad. Sean Astin looks like an actor from a B-movie and Chris Mulkey sometimes just mumbles something that is very hard to understand. Their endless boring conversations about their pathetic life will bore you to death. I could not wait for this movie to end and so to put an end to my misery. Avoid this movie at all cost and watch Against The Sun instead if you want to watch something similar but then with a good story.

Sean Astin and Chris Mukley provide fine performances in director Gil Cates Jr. suspenseful film centered on two desperate men who have a chance meeting in the middle of Lake Michigan. Mitch (Astin) is determined to kill himself because he blames himself for his father's death in a factory accident. Kelly Enright (Mulkey) crashes his plane into the Lake while on a delivery of a backpack with $125,000 for either drugs or black market human body parts. Both men are desperately searching for hope and identity in their lives. The videography is stunning, and the writing creates a realistic give and take of hostility until each man realizes he must depend upon the other for survival. The film begins with a dream-like sequence of Mitch preparing for his trip out onto Lake Michigan (and his eventual suicide). He meticulously preps for his day, fills a bird feeder with enough seed to last several weeks, then visits his mother (who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease) in a nursing home. After making certain that everything he is leaving behind is in order, Mitch motors his father's small fishing boat out into the lake. Soon Mitch discovers the wreckage of a small plane and pulls the pilot (Kelly), who had been clinging to part of one of the wings, into his craft. The remainder of the film entails Mitch and Kelly discussing bleaker anecdotes of life that all of us experience and, often, keep to ourselves. Mitch has suffered the loss of his girlfriend through a skate boarding accident, the death of his father through the warehouse accident, and his mother to Alzheimer's. Through a chance cell phone call from the men who are awaiting Kelly's arrival with the money, Mitch is able to contact 911 and both men are rescued by the Coast Guard stationed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By the time of the rescue both men have helped each discover that hope survives. As Kelly said to Mitch during one of Mitch's self-indulgent diatribes, "...don't do that to yourself [...] people have choices...". This is a must see Indy film. The acting is sound, the writing is crisp and honest, the directing is insightful, and the videography is stunning and haunting.

This is an important story to watch...very moving. Sadness and loneliness and depression are everyday issues in our society, and we should learn from this movie and try to better ourselves in our everyday real life.This movie leads to great discussion points, and challenges us to react, think, and do better.A very moving introspective story.The Surface just tease us to get to the surface of very important emotional issues that are everyday. The lead characters, including Sean do a great acting job here and should be complemented in telling this sad story!