Lakeboat

Several things about this movie turned me off. I am Great Lakes Merchant Marine and was excited to hear a movie about a Great Lakes crew was being produced. They picked a Great Vessel (the Canadian flagged Seaway Queen). But although you can't blame the actors (they were working with poor material) Lakeboat gives an unrealistic stereotypical view of merchant seaman. Not only that but there are several inaccuracies in the props. For example one character makes a ship to shore call on the inter ship phone system. While the ship was being unloaded they show crew members using hand trucks to unload boxed cargo, the majority of the ships on the lakes carry bulk cargo. This ignorance to realistic detail bothered me but so did the fact that they painted every sailor as foul mouthed know nothings. I honestly have heard worse language from Jr. High School students then my shipmates. It is just so painfully inaccurate.

LAKEBOAT for some will move as slowly as one of those ore-carrying vessels you see on the horizon from the shores of the Great Lakes. But for those wanting a relief from the frenzy of the many mindless action movies clogging our cineplexes, this Joe Montegna-directed adaptation 0of a 30-year old David Mamet play offers plenty of rewards. Rather than a coming of age film, as I've seen it described, it's really a tale in which a young grad student named Dale (played by David Mamet's brother), working on an ore boat for the summer, serves as a witness to a number of middle-aged and older crew members intent on educating their young companion. Much of their advice about handling women and sex is pretty awful, but amusing in the cocksure way in which it is dispensed to Dale--and to their good intentions in "helping" the naive boy. Most poignant of the crew is the book-reading Joe, who reveals to Dale a fact about his early life that he's told no one else--that as a boy he had dreamt of being a ballet dancer. Thinking about the direction which he chose for his own life, he tells Dale not only that he has his whole life ahead of him, but, a wonderful comment coming from a rough-hewn crew member, that he is a good man and a hard worker. Charles Durning and George Wendt are delightful as the ponderous First Mate (Captain) and second in command, as is Peter Falk as a pier worker.It seems such a crime that this film came to the Cincinnati area for just a week with no fanfare and left as quietly as it came. It desrves to find an audience, so I hope it soon will be released as an affordable video.

I came upon this movie while channel surfing. I missed the opening but I was drawn in immediately. I loved the dialogue. A scene happens, there is no "action" but the characters are changed by each other. And the characters are so strange and hectic. But you fall into them and their foibles. I also loved the 'jewishness' of Dale. Mamet's dialogue is my best. I always have a sense that he is writing and then I have to come and check. It's heightened dialogue. Almost super-real. Peter Faulk and Denis Leary are also an absolute treat in this movie. I knew that Joe Mantegna was a favorite actor of Mamet's but I didn't know that he directed as well. Very well I thought. I don't remember ever hearing about this movie before so I'm glad I caught it.

Some familiar faces in this play turned film, by David Mamet. a student on a summer job makes friends with various workers on a freighter ship. Charles Durning, Peter Falk, Denis Leary, Andy Garcia, George Wendt (NORM!). they had all been around for Years. SOOOO much talking. much of it is just dull chatter. goes on and on. and one of the actors is just annoying. Mamet needed to jazz up the script with jokes, or ... something. probably the best part of this was seeing the locks the ship went through. interesting stuff. certainly more interesting than the chatter on board. kind of an updated version of Two Years before the Mast, novel from 1840. it's a family affair.. David Mamet managed to get Tony Mamet and Bob Mamet on the payroll as well! one of the three projects directed by Joe Mantegna. this is his ONE film, and two television shows. it's just okay. not a lot going on. needed spicing up.

I think you probably have to be a huge David Mamet fan to really love this film. I'm not a huge fan, although I also don't hate his works. As for this film, I liked it but didn't love it. The entire film was a character study, and I thought was well done -- mostly. With this cast, I don't think it could go wrong. Robert Forster was fantastic. Some of the humor fell flat for me. Still, I thought it was worth seeing. My grandfather used to work in large ships on the Great Lakes. That's mostly why I rented this film. Although I suspect that his own experiences were not much like this film, it was interesting to me to think that some of them may have been a little bit similar.