The Boat Builder

Ok - I'm a person of faith and I tend to like movies with a good moral storyline, BUT I like them to be well written and even plausible. This movie is not - either plausible or well written. In my opinion it's worth 3 stars - and even that is a stretch.

I have been a Christopher Lloyd for many years, of course as Doc Brown but even before that as Reverend Jim in the old Taxi TV series. He is the old boat builder Abner in this title and truthfully in this small movie without him it probably would not be worth a watch. The script is often very clumsy and many actors just aren't very good at all, but Abner is always authentic.

Filmed mostly in the Pacifica, California area, on the coast just south of San Francisco, Abner is a retired sea-going captain and is building this 20-odd foot sailboat on his property. But zoning prohibits that and when neighbors complain he has two weeks to get the boat out of there. An orphan boy living temporarily with his relatives comes to Abner's aid, what starts out as an adversarial one turns into a friendly relationship.

As I said, a good smaller move for Lloyd, interesting and entertaining. My wife and I watched it on Amazon streaming movies.

Christopher Lloyd is a delight. The story is predictable but the life of the old man, his work, and his dream resonates.

I watched this movie solely to see another performance by Christopher Lloyd. He is a wonderful, talented actor.

The acting is appalling except for Lloyd who is excellent, and Rachel Resheff who is also good as the cousin. And the script could have been much better, but it's sweet story and enjoyable to watch. If you don't go in expecting Spielberg, you will find it's not a bad movie.