Never Get Outta the Boat
Somewhere between heaven and hell lies Third Street House, a Los Angeles halfway home for recovering addicts. Chief among its residents are Franky (Darren E. Burrows, TV’s "Northern Exposure"), Cesar and Joe, three friends whose fragile grip on sobriety faces the ultimate test when Soren Dresjac (Sebastian Roche, TV’s "Odyssey 5"), a world-famous rock star, moves in. The burnt-out veteran of twenty-two rehabs, Soren no sooner checks in before he’s out on the street, looking for his next fix. But when Soren’s self-destructive behavior drags Cesar down as well, it’ll require all of Franky and Joe’s strength and courage to remain clean, at least until tomorrow. For at Third Street House, life is taken one day at a time and there are no second chances.
Member Reviews
They Fell Into The Boat - CharleyJames
This is a blistering account of recovering drug addicts attempting to stay sober at halfway house in L.A.
Unfortunately, Boat often feels like the result of intensive workshops by a dynamic cast, including screenwriter Nick Gillie.
The opening title montage might be one of the harshest in recent years, tracking a group of addicts as they hit bottom or get arrested prior to being sent to the halfway house on 3rd St.. Watching roomies come and go on a depressingly regular basis, residents Lombardo Boyar, Joe Nick Gillie and Darren Burrows show little patience for "ducks," or the new guys who chatter away about their problems. Always inches away from bursts of anger and worse, the group takes in a famed rocker, Sebastian Roche, who’s a handful for even the group's kindly sponsor and counselor, Harry J. Lennix.
The film does a good job of creating a sense of imbalance and tension, a by-product of both the cast – many are from the New Crime theater company, where Quinn directs – throwing themselves into the roles with gusto and the cinematopgraphy’s coloristic effects and combined with a occasional experimental lens. At the same time, Gillie's script clearly demarcates each main character, never blurring them into an indifferent mass of stereotypes.
While early scenes feel like thespians on the loose, the film coalesces into some memorable portraits from the cast, none of whom require any scenery-chewing to command the screen.
Boat did well at the Toronto Film Festival but received only limited distribution. Definitely not a mainsteam movie. It's worth 3 1/2 stars so I rated it down to 3.
Member Reviews
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They Fell Into The Boat - CharleyJames
This is a blistering account of recovering drug addicts attempting to stay sober at halfway house in L.A.
Unfortunately, Boat often feels like the result of intensive workshops by a dynamic cast, including screenwriter Nick Gillie.
The opening ...