Lakeboat

Several things about this movie turned me off. I am Great Lakes Merchant Marine and was excited to hear a movie about a Great Lakes crew was being produced. They picked a Great Vessel (the Canadian flagged Seaway Queen). But although you can't blame the actors (they were working with poor material) Lakeboat gives an unrealistic stereotypical view of merchant seaman. Not only that but there are several inaccuracies in the props. For example one character makes a ship to shore call on the inter ship phone system. While the ship was being unloaded they show crew members using hand trucks to unload boxed cargo, the majority of the ships on the lakes carry bulk cargo. This ignorance to realistic detail bothered me but so did the fact that they painted every sailor as foul mouthed know nothings. I honestly have heard worse language from Jr. High School students then my shipmates. It is just so painfully inaccurate.

One would think that having worked with David Mamet for so many years, Joe Mantegna would have a superb understanding of Mamet-speak. Mamet's dialog requires a certain rhythm, or cadence to make it work, and despite the high caliber actors involved in this project, I didn't feel that many of them pulled it off very well. Denis Leary and Robert Forster seemed to get it, but everyone else around them seemed very stilted, and the dialog seemed truly forced. Mamet is fascinated by the dance of dialog, and if the cast won't dance, it doesn't work.

I came upon this movie while channel surfing. I missed the opening but I was drawn in immediately. I loved the dialogue. A scene happens, there is no "action" but the characters are changed by each other. And the characters are so strange and hectic. But you fall into them and their foibles. I also loved the 'jewishness' of Dale. Mamet's dialogue is my best. I always have a sense that he is writing and then I have to come and check. It's heightened dialogue. Almost super-real. Peter Faulk and Denis Leary are also an absolute treat in this movie. I knew that Joe Mantegna was a favorite actor of Mamet's but I didn't know that he directed as well. Very well I thought. I don't remember ever hearing about this movie before so I'm glad I caught it.

I found the movie "Lakeboat" to be a wonderful character driven film! The actors are superb, especially Robert Forster as the world-weary Joe Pitko! An Oscar performance if there ever was one. Some might find the language a bit "salty", but It wasn't gratuitous. Rather it reflects the way regular blue collar guys sometimes relate to each other, guys among guys. Having grown up and spent most of my life in the great-lakes area, I found that it rung true, and I thought it was explained very well to "the new guy" by his cabin mate before the voyage. If you don't mind thinking a bit, and you don't need an explosion every few minutes or huge special effects to keep your attention, I think you'll enjoy this film. It's a nice change of pace from the rat race.

I think you probably have to be a huge David Mamet fan to really love this film. I'm not a huge fan, although I also don't hate his works. As for this film, I liked it but didn't love it. The entire film was a character study, and I thought was well done -- mostly. With this cast, I don't think it could go wrong. Robert Forster was fantastic. Some of the humor fell flat for me. Still, I thought it was worth seeing. My grandfather used to work in large ships on the Great Lakes. That's mostly why I rented this film. Although I suspect that his own experiences were not much like this film, it was interesting to me to think that some of them may have been a little bit similar.