Homeport

Like "On the Waterfront," this movie portrays the docks as under corrupt union control and harder to deal with than a hopeful honest man might realize. My wife preferred not to come see it, because the previews were mostly a bunch of men in hard hats and reflective vests arguing and scuffling, with a hint of a perfunctory domestic subplot thrown in. Actually the main plot and the domestic subplot intensify one another as the problem of the home and the problem of the port reflect mutually. The well-meaning protagonist finds himself disappointingly unwelcome in both. The many confrontations on the docks are about work stoppages, and what's missing in the movie (and perhaps in the budget) is a reasonably lengthy look at work as usual that might give the audience a more vivid sense of the environment. In addition, there appears to be a relatively small crew at this port, a little like the massive crowds in Shakespeare that are represented by four or five actors. Okay, not that extreme. But with the cast of less than thousands and with the lack of realistic dockworking scenes, "Homeport" could almost as easily be a stage play as a movie. Yet it would be a good play. The issues are put forward clearly, they are (as one critic noted) not just about the docks but symbolic of larger issues, and the action proceeds with a certain inevitability punctuated by one or two surprises, including a surprising but basically realistic ending.