A Year in Mooring

Several years ago I heard a (ministerial-type) person say to another person that "this is the time he needs to be around us, his friends," referring to a guy who was staying apart after a personal difficulty--a tragedy. ... A the time my immediate thought was that We Do Not Know the Heart of Another and certainly cannot presume or project onto him what it is he "needs." ... This film is a profound truth-based and haunting unfoldment of the empirical reality that humans sometimes truly need to "hide away," so to speak, in order to mend and heal in spirit, soul, emotions, mind, and body. ... It is also a clear and powerful representation of overt and subtle aspects and examples of how fellow-beings can serve persons who are mending--and perhaps taking months and months to do so: not 'interfering' or following the person around (or getting 'in his face') asking constant poking questions. The the cafe' owner and the ancient mariner stand back, stand by, and provide time and space, while sort of watching over him--including in anonymous ways such as invisibly providing needed things, like those quarters to continue running the shower-water. This is a set of forms of a Ministry of Presence, which is not about 'saying' or 'doing' lots of things...it's about being profoundly yet quietly Present and totally taking cues from the person. ..... ..... We learn very early in the beginning of the movie why he is drawn to that particular boat, which itself has great meaning and import. .... What others have written about the filmography and setting of the film holds true as well--it is strikingly beautiful, as are the musical scores (cues) throughout the film. ... All of the songs are Perfect, apt, and ideally placed in the film.

....What I don't know is if the subtitles (which just happened to be set to "on" when it ran on Prime Video) are the ones that would be on a DVD version; the 'subtitles' are strange a lot of the time, e.g., saying "noise" instead of "footsteps" or "engine running," and are outright incorrect in other instances. ... so it seems as if whoever did the closed captioning may have only been half paying attention, unskilled, or inebriated. Unknown; however, the captioning is quite odd...

.... By the way, I had no idea how the story was going to progress or how it would end, and my thoughts along the way about certain things that would or would not happen were incorrect. However, one knows, by default and from how the movie starts, the basic reason for the Young Mariner's despair.

Overall "Hide Away" is beautifully done from several standpoints and is worth seeing for a thoughtful, careful unfoldment of a real human living out a period of the beginning of some measure of healing and psychological and emotional recovery.

Alternately titled Hide Away - which is how it found me. It took about 15 minutes to get into it, and I am so glad I did. The beginning holds us down in Josh Lucas' 'depths of despair, so I will fix a sailboat' phase. Spectacular scenery, slightly old-school cinematography and the minimal dialogue work well to sustain the journey this many goes through. We don't fully grasp the source of his pain until the end. And it is painful. (Note to parents - PG 13, however an intense, though no parts shown, love scene in last 1/4) The beautiful remoteness of the location and the characters played by Ayelet Zurer as the philosophical waitress with her own secrets, and James Cromwell as the ancient mariner support the viewer's immersive experience. The use of Longfellow's "The Children's Hour' poem was brilliant. Loved it!

A man arrives at a dock, in suit & tie and carrying his suitcase, buys a boat as-is, he seems haunted but we don't yet know why. If you've ever experienced deep grief or a need to hideaway and heal, this film will have a deeper meaning for you, if you've not yet experienced those tortured emotions in life you may not yet understand fully the emotional depths this film represents. I've been there, I am there, and felt the film all the more meaningful for my own experiences. The waterside setting is magical and the story plays against the backdrop of its setting (Traverse City, Michigan) and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, The Children's Hour, which given Longfellow's own sad history gives the film even deeper resonance. The typical Hollywood films you'll barely remember a month later but Hide Away will have a lasting impact and this, this, is the film you want to see this Summer. Best work I've seen from Josh Lucas and James Cromwell is, even more than usual, so very memorable as The Ancient Mariner. I'd originally rated this film an 8 but, after viewing it a second time, I changed my review to a 10. Now I'm left wondering what my own boat is...

It's a quiet movie. The motor on a sailboat is called an iron genny not an iron spinnaker as Lucas refers to it in the movie. Genny comes from the word genoa which is a sail, like a jib, only it's leach extends aft of the mast. Also, no sailor spins the dock lines in a spiral like Lucas does. That's a stupid habit of power boaters. Anyway, I watched because I like sailing. Not much to glean about sailing though from this movie. The point of the moving has nothing to do with sailing. I liked it though because Lucas was trying to find the answers at the bottom of the bottle. I can appreciate that. If I were to sink into a depression and come to grips with loss I'd make sure it was in a warm place. The Great Lakes are not a recommendation for a long sulking and healing.

Not your typical "healing" movie as it leaves a lot to one's interpretation... it's deeper than you suspect at first. The beginning is slow, but once the human interaction begins it flows well. Josh Lucas is an underrated actor and I always admire James Cromwell's work. One strongpoint of this film is the outstanding cinematography... beautiful work! Also, I found the soundtrack music to be soothing. A man's long road to healing... I liked it.