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Greetings again from the darkness. We all recognize the genius of Philip Seymour Hoffman the actor. This gives us one more example of his immense talent, but also puts his eye as a first time director on display. Not surprisingly, he comes through extremely well.

Based on the play by Bob Glaudini, three of the four main characters reprise their role from the stage production. Mr. Hoffman as Jack, John Ortiz as Clyde and Daphne Rubin-Vega as Clyde's wife, Lucy. The newcomer is the fantastic Amy Ryan ("The Office")as Connie. Jack and Clyde work together as limo drivers. Lucy and Connie work together for some odd funeral home specialist who markets some type of unexplained program.

All that really matters is that Clyde and Lucy arrange to have Connie and Jack meet. The apparent reason is that neither of them have any friends or social skills. What we then learn is that all four of these people are fractured. Scene after scene shows off the power of friendship and/or the faulty side of on-the-job relationship therapy borough about by cheating and secrets.

For the most part, the film has the feel of a stage production and moves very slowly as these type of people would. There are moments where individual weakness gives way to outbursts of emotions - and not all in a positive way. What is clear is that they each want the best for each other, but have no real feel for what's best for themselves.

I thought the film made some excellent points, but I was a bit disappointed in the hookah scene. That was the only scene that went too far and my guess is it worked better on stage. On the bright side, there are some tender, poignant moments and the acting is truly superb throughout the film. It is obvious that these four actors care very much for the story and these characters.

Seymour-Hoffman's directorial debut is a well-rounded little film about being positive no matter the circumstances; the possibility of a solution at the end of the tunnel and the value of perseverance.

Jack Goes Boating relates the tale of four people whose stories are wound together. The premise is simple: one couple throwing a blind date for the other two parties. From this seemingly basic starting point, the characters undergo transformations, all of which are sprinkled with life-lessons and positive philosophy, all the more poignant for its stark backdrop of lower-middle class life. In this sense, there is a feel of La Vita è Bella about it, although admittedly Jack Goes Boating is not quite in the same league as the former.

Phillip Seymour-Hoffman pulls off some typically sensational acting, as does Amy Ryan, with a complicated emotional role which she executes very well indeed.

All in all, a high-class film, totally worth watching, but not something that leaves you with the feeling it ought to have won Best Picture.

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'JACK GOES BOATING': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

Philip Seymour Hoffman makes his directorial debut directing this film adaptation of the 2007 New York play he starred in. He and two of the three other lead stage actors (John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega) have returned to reprise their roles in the film, with actress Amy Ryan filling out the ensemble cast (replacing Beth Cole). Hoffman replaces Peter Dubois as director and makes a very impressive film making splash. Actor Robert Glaudini wrote the screenplay, adapting his play.

Hoffman plays Jack, a socially awkward but very sweet limo driver who's never had much if any experience with women or been in a relationship. Ortiz plays his co-worker and best friend Clyde and Rubin-Vega plays Clyde's long time girlfriend Lucy. The two set Jack up on a blind date with Lucy's new co-worker Connie (Ryan), a quirky and offbeat character that immediately takes a liking to Jack. It turns out as we soon find out that Clyde and Lucy have been having serious relationship problems for some time and take it upon themselves to devote a great deal of time to helping their best friend Jack with his new found love instead of working on their own.

The film is very slow paced, and seems aimless at times, and the story is almost non existent. It is a great character study though and the acting is all outstanding. Hoffman is of course amazing and Ryan is equally as wonderful. Ortiz and Rubin-Vega are more than adequate as well. The movie is obviously an actor's movie, being that it comes from a play that seems obvious, but Hoffman's directing adds a very powerful and unique touch as well. I really liked his character too and found him pretty relatable. The film shows a very strong and striking resemblance to one of my all time favorite films 'PUNCH DRUNK LOVE' (which Hoffman also co-starred in) but it's not nearly as well thought out and effective. Despite it's flaws it's still a memorable and unique film and worth the watch.

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"Jack Goes Boating" is a relationship drama. A tale about life, love, romance, marriage, dating and life again. It's about Jack (Philip Seymour Hoffman) a very awkward man whose married friends Clyde and Lucy set him up with Connie (Amy Ryan), a very awkward woman. Connie mentions that she would like to go boating, when the weather warms up. Jack would like that.

The rest of the film is about Jack trying to show Connie that he likes her and hoping that she likes him. Their awkwardness is heartbreaking and real and really sets the stage for watching love grow and eventually going boating. Hoffman and Ryan have a great connection; a very refreshing couple.

The film brings slowness to a whole new level, until things come to a boil. Some scenes really show the theatre roots of this film, and I always love those. There have been a lot of recent well done films based on plays and "Jack Goes Boating" is up there with the best.

There are some very subtle and interesting remarks about what makes a relationship work. It was uplifting but in a very awkward way, but also refreshingly real and ultimately cute. "Jack Goes Boating" is very slow, and adult and raw, but I recommend it.

"You've never been in a relationship for any length of time. A lot happens."

Jack Goes Boating is a raw, hard to categorize directorial debut for Philip Seymour Hoffman, adapted from the play of the same title. 

I guess if I had to assign it a genre, it would be indie drama. The story follows the hesitantly blossoming relationship between Jack (Hoffman) and Connie (Amy Ryan), and the rocky, established relationship of their friends Clyde (John Ortiz) and Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega). 

Jack Goes Boating reminded me of Two Lovers in some ways. It involves flawed people making decisions that aren't always the wisest ones, and dealing with things in their past that make their current relationships more difficult. 

Don't expect this to be romantic or cutesy, it attempts to go for the "realistic" angle, with all the problems and realities that come with real adult relationships. That's derailed a bit by the occasionally awkward dialogue and characters that aren't really as fleshed out as they needed to be. We don't get much of a sense of who they used to be or what their past was like, and that would have added to the movie immensely. It's somewhat difficult to put into context the characters as they are now, without that information.  

Still, I think this was a pretty decent debut from Hoffman. He's clearly in the process of learning what works from the other side of the camera, and it's puzzling why they didn't adjust the odd, romance novel-like dialogue in some places, but overall, Jack Goes Boating hints at a promising future. There are some poignant moments that really stuck out, to me. Fans of Hoffman and Ryan (count me as both) should check it out.