Jack Goes Boating – Movie Review 2

By Anne Brodie Sep 24, 2010, 14:06 GMT

Jack Goes Boating is a tale of love, betrayal, friendship and grace centered around two working-class New York City couples. The film stars John Ortiz (American Gangster), Daphne Rubin-Vega (Broadway’s "Rent"), Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), with Hoffman making his feature directorial debut. Bob Glaudini ("A View From 151st Street") adapted his acclaimed Off Broadway play for the screen. Jack (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Connie (Amy ...more

Jack is a sensitive soul who would like to date someone nice.  His limo driving partner and friend Clyde (John Ortiz) decides to set him up with his wife’s funeral home co-worker Connie (Amy Ryan) even though Jack feels unready for such a challenge.

He seems terminally shy.  But Clyde arranges a small dinner for them at his apartment which turns inexplicably dark with tears, locked bathrooms, and confessions. 

However, Jack and Connie find common ground leaving the apartment; she expresses a romantic desire to go boating with him.  An unusual choice since its winter and snowing, so Jack decides he has to learn to swim before he can boat.  Clyde, his ever-supportive friend, will teach him to swim.

And Clyde’s wife Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega) volunteers to teach Jack to cook so he can make a gourmet meal for Connie.  Progress is being made; Jack is coming out of his shell and taking a few risks to reap big rewards.

It’s a huge step for the character that Hoffman has so finely tuned.  He’s messy looking, awkward, big, ungainly, and has nervous tics.  He makes steps to better his life and becomes… more of the same.  And yet Jack is completely engaging in Hoffman’s hands.

But set against Jack’s new shot at living is the growing rift in Clyde’s relationship with Lucy.  The funeral home is apparently offering more than comfort to the grieving and so is a chef in a nearby restaurant. 

Connie’s boss, who is Lucy’s lover, gropes her, enraging Lucy and threatening the new friendship between Jack and Connie and Lucy and Clyde.  And then we learn strange things about Connie who comes to work beaten bloody by a subway assailant.

Hoffman in his directorial debut, skillfully contrasts the tentative relationship that builds with the seemingly solid marriage that is in trouble, as mellow, satisfying emotion contrasts with the pain of loss and the death of love. 

Life is never simple, no matter that our hero has gone against every instinct to participate in it; and if his friends’ marital problems worry him, he chooses to be positive.

Each performance is terrific, Oscar winner Ryan, Hoffman who pulled double duty as director and star, and relative unknowns Ortiz and Rubin-Vega.  Ortiz and Rubin-Vega starred with Hoffman in the play Jack Goes Boating and recognized its cinematic potential. 

So Hoffman jumped in and started rowing.  He chose to go dark and anxious in tone, and even grim at times, relieved by the growing sincerity between the leads.

Despite its pluses, Jack Goes Boating will likely have a tough time of it – it’s a character piece that requires attention; there aren’t any car crashes or special effects.  It’s in 2D and it’s no picnic.  But it’s an engaging and sincere beginning for Hoffman’s directorial career.

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35mm drama
Written by Robert Glaudini
Directed by Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Opens Sept. 23
Runtime: 89 minutes
MPAA: Rated R for language, drug use and some sexual content.
Country: USA
Language: English