The Surface

I just discovered this film on Amazon Prime and saw that it had Sean Astin in it. I have liked Seans parts in every film I've seen him in so I figured I'd like this one. It's a slow paced film that mostly takes place on a boat, but the depth of the characters and the meaning behind the story carries the film through. Just a good solid film without out the bells and whistles.

Greetings again from the darkness. Survival movies come in many shapes and styles. There are classy ones like All is Lost (with Robert Redford) and Life of Pi (Academy Award nominee). There are thrilling ones like The Edge (with Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins). And of course there are the kinda trashy ones that usually feature beautiful and clueless people stuck on an island somewhere like in Turistas (with Josh Duhamel).

What we rarely see are survival movies that just don't have much going on. Open Water is about the closest to this latest from director Gil Cates, Jr and writer Jeff Gendelman, but at least that one offered the constant threat of a shark attack.

Sad sack Mitch (Sean Astin) visits his Alzheimer's-stricken mom in the nursing home before heading out to the middle of Lake Michigan in what he plans as his final voyage in life. At the most inopportune time – given his goal – it's his boat that is rendered lifeless thanks to the scattered pieces of a plane crash. Mitch drags the survivor (Chris Mulkey) aboard and the two fellows proceed to prove that their philosophizing and reminiscing are no match for the conversational skills of a boy and his tiger (Life of Pi).

Flashbacks are the key to us understanding the reasons these two crossed paths in such an unusual manner. We see Mitch's guilt and inability to be a worthy partner in a relationship, and we see pilot Kelly's desperation in trying to making ends meet for his family and regaining his confidence as a man.

There are a couple of funny "guy" moments (the poet comment made me laugh), yet somehow the conversation of these two men in a life-threatening situation pales in comparison to the exchanges of two gents over a meal in My Dinner with Andre. Where is the danger? Where is the stress? Where is the soul-searching? It's unfortunate that the extended periods of two guys in a boat just don't have much to offer for the 86 minute run time, because the stage was set for much more than melodrama.

I've seen a number of this type of movie--men against each other against nature. I generally enjoy them and this one was no exception. Astin was remarkably good as Mitch, the depressed adult child of the Alzheimer's-affected mother. He is clearly ridden by guilt and sadness when he goes out on the boat for what purpose, the viewer can only guess at.

Astin could easily have carried an entire movie by himself. He can express a wide range of emotions in a believable way, although in this film he's prone to just sadness, anger, and wistful amusement. When he's paired with Mulkey, the story takes on an entirely different tone. While he was depressed and self-absorbed prior to discovering the crashed plane, Mitch begins to care about life again. Not his own, at first, but definitely Mulkey's. Mitch begins to understand that he's not just there to face his own life, but also to (as corny as it sounds) forgive himself and take his place in this changed life.

Despite what could be a very depressing subject matter, the interaction between the two men had me laughing out loud a few times. It wasn't exactly a heartwarming movie, but it left me feeling satisfied with the ending and the way in which the storylines were tied up. The only thing is, I wish we'd gotten a chance to see Mitch's choice of dog. This movie is not for anyone who wants to see "Adrift" or "Dead Calm," but is generally enjoyable for someone who thinks that tension and violence are not inexorably intertwined.

A very quiet character study. Down and out Mitch (Sean Astin) rescues a downed pilot in Lake Michigan and so rescues himself.

This is not action movie but a quiet movie.

Loved the lake boating scenes. Captures the everyday dangers that boaters have to overcome. Mitch rescuing the pilot is really just him rescuing his father.

Very moving . Give the movie a chance.

I was starting to watch Martin Scorsese's star-studded Hollywood blockbuster_The Departed_, and I turned it off after about 30 minutes. I was sick of all the tough guy talk and violence. I just can't relate to mafia gangsters, never have, never will. Sorry, Marty.

I was in mood for a simple, straightforward movie about real, relatable people. I found that in _The Surface_, a hidden gem of a movie that undoubtedly made no money.

It's a low budget indie film, and it's certainly not perfect. Some of the dialog is stilted, the acting is sometimes uneven, and the camera work is not particularly creative. But it tells a good story, partly through flashbacks, but mostly through the dialog of two men stranded in a small boat miles offshore from Milwaukee in Lake Michigan.

Mitch (Sean Astin) is a nerdy type who has suffered so much loss in his life that he decides to take his late father's boat out on the lake and commit suicide. The boat runs into some debris from a crashed small plane, whose pilot, Kelly (Chris Mulkey), is desperately hanging on to the wing. Mitch rescues him, but his boat has been damaged, and the two men are adrift. Kelly is badly injured. There is no cell phone service, and Mitch has not bothered to bring a ship to shore radio since he never intends to return home.

This not a _Perfect Storm_ / man vs. nature action film. The majority of the scenes consist of the two men conversing, and in those conversations, along with a few flashbacks, we learn their backstories. Mitch is young; Kelly is older and wiser, which makes for an interesting dynamic.

Sounds simple, and it is--sometimes bordering on simplistic. There are some implausibilities: As far as I know, you can't slam around a jar of nitroglycerin around without it blowing up. Mitch's backstory is so tragic, it's a bit over the top. And why is there suddenly a cell phone signal at a critical moment toward the end? But aside from that, there is something about the stories of the two men that's keeps us watching--and, of course wondering if they will be rescued.

Some indie films try to impress us with weirdness or jarring camera work. This one eschews all of that and just tells a straightforward story.

No spoilers here concerning the ending, but the simple message of this movie is that if you can't control fate, you can at least control what you choose to do with your life.

It's worth a watch if you're in a thoughtful frame of mind. Not a colossal, mind-blowing film, but it suited my rather introspective mood, and it might suit yours.