Jack Goes Boating

(2010) *** R
91 min. Overture Films. Director: Philip Seymour Hoffman. Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Tom McCarthy.

/content/films/3853/1.jpgPhilip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut, Jack Goes Boating, offers an alternative for those tired of the conventions of Hollywood romantic comedy. Arguably, it replaces one set of conventions for another—those of the typical Off-Broadway dramedy—but I’ll take shaggy weirdness over cynical slickness every time. Adapted by Bob Glaudini from his own play, Jack Goes Boating indeed comes directly from Off-Broadway, where Hoffman played the title character. Hoffman reprises his role on screen, and reunites with his costars John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega.

Hoffman’s lonely bachelor Jack is a sad-sack striver who we catch in mid-“strive.” Alongside best bud Clyde (Ortiz), Jack works as a New York City limo driver, but he harbors an aspiration to climb the next rung on the social ladder by getting a job with the MTA. Clyde has a more important advancement in mind for his friend: pairing Jack up with Connie (Amy Ryan, always welcome), a misfit co-worker of Clyde’s wife Lucy (Rubin-Vega).

With his hair “styled” in an abortive attempt at dreadlocks, Jack demonstrates he’s a man of enthusiasms (lately, The Melodians’ Rastafarian anthem “Rivers of Babylon,” which he takes with him wherever he goes). So when Connie suggests that a boating excursion would be nice, when the weather warms up, Jack seizes on the thought. If he’s to get in a boat, he’ll have to learn to swim, and Clyde agrees to begin giving his friend lessons. Another vein of self-improvement finds Jack having accidentally agreed to make dinner for Connie: time to learn how to cook a meal.

In its early-going, Jack Goes Boating proves especially tender and sweet. Though Lucy is a world-weary type, her husband is a conspicuously dedicated friend, whose loyalty to Jack is touching. The sensitive Connie also gives Jack good reason to hope in their awkward but warmhearted verbal dances. Still, there’s a reason Lucy warns Jack, about relationships, that “things'll come up that you have to live with.” It’s clear that dysfunction has brought these characters to a place where they need each other perhaps a little too desperately, and greater signs of dysfunction begin to seep into the narrative on the way to a third-act social disaster: a dinner party that goes horribly wrong.

Hoffman’s actorly sensibility allows the film’s best moments, expressed in gestures and non-verbal signifiers (nervous throat-clearing, an unanswered question hanging in the air). The characters’ spectacular “in vino veritas” cracking up at the climax is a bit heavy-handed, but there’s an intriguing contrast that builds to the moment, as we watch one relationship that’s troubled—Clyde and Lucy’s longstanding marriage—and another that’s just trying to get off the ground.

In one way or another, all of the characters yearn for an indefinite future, emblematized by the idea of the boating trip. Jack puts his trust in the “positive vibe” he’s been cultivating, a willfulness mirrored in Clyde’s swimming instruction for Jack to visualize himself achieving results. And perhaps the answer to all their problems is just that simple: an agreement to forgive the flaws and “see” the best in each other.

[This review first appeared in Palo Alto Weekly.]

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Bluray

Aspect ratios: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1

Street date: 1/18/2011

Distributor: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Anchor Bay delivers Jack Goes Boating in a lovely looking hi-def transfer with a handful of bonus features. The A/V gets good marks all around, with a nicely detailed and film-like image that accurately represents the filmmaker's intent in contrast and color. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix certainly maximizes this talky picture, immersing us in ample New York ambience and lending a fullness to the music in Jack's life.

It's unfortunate that there's no commentary from Hoffman and/or playwright/screenwriter Bob Glaudini. Instead we get a couple of bite-sized featurettes and deleted scenes. "Jack's New York" (3:51, HD) focuses on the character of the city and how it reflects the lives of the characters. Participants include Hoffman, Glaudini, Daphne Rubin-Vega, John Ortiz, Amy Ryan, Salvatore Inzerillo, Tom McCarthy, production designer Thérèse DuPrez, and producer Peter Saraf.

"From the Stage to the Big Screen" (4:35, HD) discusses the film's origins in Glaudini's off-Broadway play. Interviewed are producer Ruth O'Neil, Saraf, Glaudini, Hoffman, Inzerillo, Rubin-Vega, and Ortiz. Rounding out the disc are two brief "Deleted Scenes" (1:52, SD), both set on the subway, and the "Theatrical Trailer" (2:22, HD). Film and theater enthusiasts will find a lot to like in Jack Goes Boating, and obviously Blu-ray will give viewers more bang for their bucks.

Review gear:
Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer

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