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Lakeboat (2001)
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Synopsis: Veteran character actor Joe Mantegna makes his directorial debut with this big screen adaptation of David Mamet's semi-autobiographical play about a young man who learns some valuable life lessons aboard a ship one summer. Dale Katzman (Tony Mamet), an eager grad student in his early... Veteran character actor Joe Mantegna makes his directorial debut with this big screen adaptation of David Mamet's semi-autobiographical play about a young man who learns some valuable life lessons aboard a ship one summer. Dale Katzman (Tony Mamet), an eager grad student in his early twenties, joins the crew aboard the Seaway Queen, a freight boat crossing Lake Michigan. Settling into his new world, he meets the crew: the bickering Skippy (Charles Durning), the storytelling Pierman (Peter Falk), the porn-loving Fireman (Denis Leary), the loudmouthed Stan (J.J. Johnston), and the sensitive Joe (Robert Forster). As the summer unfolds, Dale listens readily to the endless stories, arguments, and jokes that spew forth from the belligerent mouths of the lonely crewmembers. Eventually, Dale's honest, amiable presence cracks the hard surface of Joe, who shares a story that will remain with Dale forever. Mantegna, a Mamet regular, allows his actors to find the humanity in their characters, breathing life into the film's potentially stagey environment. The relentlessly crackling dialogue, both crude and hysterical, is pure Mamet, expressing repressed male behavior with an honesty (and vulgarity) that most writers dare not put down on the page. As the weathered Joe, Forster turns in another heartbreaking performance, which adds poignancy to the film's otherwise lighthearted tone. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Charles Durning, Peter Falk, Robert Forster, Denis Leary, George Wendt
DVD Info
Release:
Dec 9, 2003
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Single Side - Single Layer
- Full Frame - 1.33
Additional Release Material:
- Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer
- 2. Bonus Trailers
Interactive Features:
- Full-Motion Menu
- Scene Access
Text/Photo Galleries:
- Biographies - 1. Cast
Reviews
Based on Mamet's experience as a freighter on the Great Lakes while a grad English lit student, Mantegna's screen version is so dramatically inert and artistically shapeless resulting in an uninvolving memory film.
This plotless film is filled with a zillion little nostalgia stories that are both pointless and irritating, but some stories can also be devilishly charming.
Mamet's fixation on language is ... more effective onstage than onscreen, where the technical and visual requirements distract from the sounds of the words -- the heart of Mamet's work.
Mamet knows people so well that you can forgive his lack of actual story once in awhile.
For the most part a lot of fun, with some fine performances from a mature cast.
Watching it, you come to understand what it is that Mamet has been true to all these years.
As drama, it's not much; as a meditation on language and storytelling, it's a treat.
Viewers learn that these salty guys have salty imaginations and that Mamet's a master at capturing their thoughts in discursive detail.
Joe Mantegna... brings just the right tone of easy gab and tossed-off tales to this actor's showcase.
If you're an admirer of [Mamet's] work, or if you're willing to be as patiently observant as Dale, you will find much that is fascinating and illuminating.


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