OUT TO SEA
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 4.0 Alternative Scale: ** out of ****
United States, 1997 U.S. Release Date: 7/2/97 (wide) Running Length: 1:46 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Mature themes, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau, Dyan Cannon, Gloria DeHaven, Brent Spiner, Hal Linden, Rue McClanahan, Edward Mulhare, Donald O'Connor, Elaine Stritch Director: Martha Coolidge Producers: John Davis, David T. Friendly Screenplay: Marshall Brickman, David Jacobs Cinematography: Lajos Koltai Music: David Newman U.S. Distributor: 20th Century Fox
It's the return of the Grumpy Old Odd Couple. After taking breaks from each other over the holidays, Walter Matthau (who sparred with Ossie Davis in I'M NOT RAPPAPORT) and Jack Lemmon (who traded barbs with James Garner in MY FELLOW AMERICANS) share screen credit for a tenth time in OUT TO SEA. Unfortunately, this is one of their least successful efforts to date. Instead of allowing the actors to breathe some life into their characters, OUT TO SEA's film makers have instead decided to let Lemmon and Matthau sail along on reputation alone. And, as affable as their chemistry is, it's not enough to sustain a movie all by itself.
This has been a bad summer for films about cruise ships (and a worse summer for audiences forced to endure them). First, Sandra Bullock and Jason Patric got away from it all on the high seas in SPEED 2. Now, we have Lemmon and Matthau. And, while the essential plot details are vastly different, the films climax on an eerily similar note -- with a motor-powered craft chasing a hydroplane. Still, OUT TO SEA has a lot less in common with SPEED 2 than it does with the old TV series, THE LOVE BOAT. Save for the big-screen format and the different crew, this could easily be an elongated episode. It's just as lame, mindless, and saccharine.
The feeble premise has brothers-in-law and best enemies Herbie (Lemmon) and Charlie (Matthau) going on a cruise together. Herbie doesn't really want to go -- he'd rather sit at home and miss his dead wife. Charlie, on the other hand, is in desperate need of money to pay off gambling debts, and he believes that the quickest way to amass a fortune is to find a lonely, rich woman and marry her. So he signs himself and Herbie up as dance instructors on the ship -- a position that earns them free passage. They also develop fake identities, and, pretending to be far more wealthy than they actually are, they start wooing women. Charlie's choice, predictably, is a wealthy Texas blond named Liz LaBreche (Dyan Cannon), who is often on the arm of a stuffy Englishman (Edward Mulhare). Herb, however, makes a far less ostentatious choice in Vivian (Gloria DeHaven), a widow who reminds him of his late wife. Meanwhile, the ship's cruise director, Gil Godwyn (a deliciously over-the-top Brent Spiner), is out to ensnare the two men in their own web of deceit.
Lemmon and Matthau often seem to be sleepwalking their way through this screenplay-by-numbers. And, considering OUT TO SEA's lack of intelligence and ambition, who could blame them? The veteran actors have a few enjoyable scenes together, but, most of the time, OUT TO SEA pulls them apart, and there's not enough spark in the Cannon/Matthau and Lemmon/DeHaven matches to keep things interesting for long. The comedy is also second-rate, with sit-com jokes, one-liners, and embarrassing situations trying vainly to generate laughter.
The cast, if nothing else, is diverse. Quite a number of TV actors have parts (reinforcing the LOVE BOAT feel), including Brent Spiner (STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION), Edward Mulhare (KNIGHT RIDER), Rue McClanahan (THE GOLDEN GIRLS), and Hal Linden (BARNEY MILLER). Then there's song-and-dance man Donald O'Connor, who stays in the background except when called upon to display a few moves. And, although Dyan Cannon is more bubbly and vivacious than in the recent 8 HEADS IN A DUFFEL BAG, this is hardly the most promising rung in her comeback ladder.
The magic between Lemmon and Matthau may finally be wearing thin, but I don't think it has completely exhausted itself yet. What these two need, however, is a script that challenges them to do something fresh rather than encouraging them to go over already-plowed ground. After OUT TO SEA, the last thing I'm in the mood for are THE ODD COUPLE 2 and GRUMPIEST OLD MEN (both of which are apparently in the works). Director Martha Coolidge (RAMBLING ROSE) should have known better than to believe that the presence of a pair of familiar, likable comic actors could keep this movie from taking on water. So, if only for the sake of Lemmon and Matthau's joint reputation, OUT TO SEA deserves to go down fast and without a trace.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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