[yasr_overall_rating]
Two strangers, both at the end of their rope, suddenly meet in the middle of the unpredictable waters of Lake Michigan.
Sean Astin and Chris Mulkey are both fine actors. Who can forget Mr. Astin in “The Goonies,” “Rudy” or the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy or Mr. Mulkey in “First Blood” or TV’s “Friday Night Lights?” Given the right script and direction, both actors can deliver the goods and while I commend director Gil Cates Jr. for his dramatic effort “The Surface,” sadly, the film just barely manages to keep its head above water. As the movie starts, we find Mitch (Sean Astin) heading out into the middle of Lake Michigan in his father’s old speedboat with every intention of killing himself. With his father having recently been involved in a workplace accident that took his life, Mitch blames himself because he feels that he could have prevented the accident had he had just trained him better and with his mother dying of Alzheimer’s, he surmises that his life is empty and has nothing left to live for.
While driving the boat, his mind wanders to the what-ifs in his life and he strikes floating debris. He sees the wreckage of a light aircraft and clinging to one of the wings is a man, Kelly (Chris Mulkey), barely alive. He drags him onto the boat and remains unconscious for some time but when he wakes up, he pulls a knife on Mitch, demanding to know where his backpack is. Mitch hands it to him and is immediately suspicious but when he tries to start the boat, it won’t turn over. Upon examination, he sees that the propeller is broken, a result of hitting the debris and both men realize that they are stuck with each other. With no cell phone service and no radio, the two begin talking and opening up, forming an unlikely bond and friendship as they go, until they are rescued at the very end. The overall idea is actually quite good but it’s in the melodramatic narrative where the film begins to drown.
Shooting any kind of movie in one location is always going to be a challenge to any filmmaker because you have to keep the story vibrant and fresh all the way through. Here though, I found myself beginning to feel disinterested, even though the characters were revealing life-altering moments from their past, it was the constant absence of any sort of interesting background that began to bother me. At one point, Kelly reveals that he is a courier and that the backpack he is carrying was meant to be delivered hours ago and that the men waiting for it, will eventually track him down using the bag’s GPS and kill them both. At this point, the story began to take interest again but it was short-lived as eventually a speedboat approached them, demanded the backpack and then sped off. What little bit of danger was hinted at early on, faded away with the boat’s departure.
The film tries to heighten the suspense by letting the audience know that the boat is slowly sinking but this comes at the end of the movie by which time both men are finally saved by the Coast Guard. Had this element been added at the very beginning, then it might have sustained some semblance of danger and suspense but alas, it was not meant to be. Mitch talks about losing his father and his mother’s Alzheimer’s and for added drama, he talks about a girl he briefly dated who then left him for another guy and then fell while skating one day and cracked her skull and died as a consequence. He spends the majority of the film conscience-stricken and depressed and after a while, you feel like turning the boat over so you can put him out of his and your misery, while taking the backpack as compensation for having to listen to him drone on and on.
In any sort of drama, you need to balance it with moments of levity because if your movie is all doom and gloom, it’s not going to work as real life dictates that while things might be bad in your life at any given moment, it won’t stay that way and a big part of that falls on you and your perspective. Both Sean Astin and Chris Mulkey are very capable actors but unfortunately, this film won’t be remembered as a highlight in their career. As an aside, a component that I feel was very misleading in this film’s marketing, was its artwork. In it, you see the two men in the small boat on stormy waters with frightfully large approaching waves but that never once transpires in the movie. The water, in every scene, is practically calm all the way through but the poster gives the impression of another story comparable to “The Perfect Storm.” Not a big deal you might say but a film’s artwork is a determining factor on whether you will pick up the movie or pass it by. “The Surface” is a decent effort but that’s about all.
Available on DVD, VOD and Digital HD September 1st
