The Surface

Being an older person, I remember when serious acting was still the expectation of good movies, before special effects were given the priorities. This film is a very good and believable study of how two very different men might be brought together in very fantastically different circumstances. The fact that in the ending credits the note is made that the events of the film are based on actual happenings does much to explain and reinforce some of my personal beliefs about "pre-destination" and possibly "Divine" intervention. The main actors did an excellent job, considering the limitations of being pretty much a two actor film for most of the movie, and how the chance meeting of the two would change their lives forever.

I strongly suggest you might overlook some of the films negative ratings and see it for the very good film it is.

I like this movie. It was simple. I think people have forgotten how to enjoy a simple movie with a simple message. It is such a breath of fresh air not to have some stupid twisted ending.

I normally love survival and man vs. nature films. I think you can break down events in these kinds of movies into several categories:

*Man vs. Craft - Troubles with the mode of transportation (a small boat in this case) *Man vs. Nature - Troubles with weather, predators, etc. *Man vs. Man - Troubles with the other survivors *Man vs. Potential Rescuers - Often not seen by potential rescuers or they can be hostile

This movie offered up very few interactions within these categories, settling instead for some average dialog.

Another big problem is that the movie failed to make you care about the characters enough to really root for their survival. Also the dialog between the two suddenly became more intimate and personal with no transition to ease the viewer along.

The dialog between the two characters covered some decent ground but was not well-written. The characters will not built out enough for you to sympathize or even fully understand their issues soon enough to cement your interest in their survival.

It's a shame because survival movies are generally a good watch.

Reasonably well filmed.

Read some Jack London to experience the genre at its peak.

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.

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.