The Surface (I) (2014) User Reviews

Two Guys in a Boat

[ferguson-6 · 4/10 · 22 May 2015]

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.

Simple, but has a good message

[rhefner2002 · 4/10 · 18 October 2019]

I was starting to watch Martin Scorsese's star-studded Hollywood blockbuster_The Departed_, and I turned it off after about 30 minutes. I was sick of all the tough guy talk and violence. I just can't relate to mafia gangsters, never have, never will. Sorry, Marty.

I was in mood for a simple, straightforward movie about real, relatable people. I found that in _The Surface_, a hidden gem of a movie that undoubtedly made no money.

It's a low budget indie film, and it's certainly not perfect. Some of the dialog is stilted, the acting is sometimes uneven, and the camera work is not particularly creative. But it tells a good story, partly through flashbacks, but mostly through the dialog of two men stranded in a small boat miles offshore from Milwaukee in Lake Michigan.

Mitch (Sean Astin) is a nerdy type who has suffered so much loss in his life that he decides to take his late father's boat out on the lake and commit suicide. The boat runs into some debris from a crashed small plane, whose pilot, Kelly (Chris Mulkey), is desperately hanging on to the wing. Mitch rescues him, but his boat has been damaged, and the two men are adrift. Kelly is badly injured. There is no cell phone service, and Mitch has not bothered to bring a ship to shore radio since he never intends to return home.

This not a _Perfect Storm_ / man vs. nature action film. The majority of the scenes consist of the two men conversing, and in those conversations, along with a few flashbacks, we learn their backstories. Mitch is young; Kelly is older and wiser, which makes for an interesting dynamic.

Sounds simple, and it is--sometimes bordering on simplistic. There are some implausibilities: As far as I know, you can't slam around a jar of nitroglycerin around without it blowing up. Mitch's backstory is so tragic, it's a bit over the top. And why is there suddenly a cell phone signal at a critical moment toward the end? But aside from that, there is something about the stories of the two men that's keeps us watching--and, of course wondering if they will be rescued.

Some indie films try to impress us with weirdness or jarring camera work. This one eschews all of that and just tells a straightforward story.

No spoilers here concerning the ending, but the simple message of this movie is that if you can't control fate, you can at least control what you choose to do with your life.

It's worth a watch if you're in a thoughtful frame of mind. Not a colossal, mind-blowing film, but it suited my rather introspective mood, and it might suit yours.

Cheap but not uninteresting

[Leofwine_draca · 5/10 · 25 March 2019]

With each year that passes, Sean Astin's stock seems to fall lower and lower, the budgets of his movies diminishing over time. THE SURFACE is another rung in that ever-descending ladder. It's a cheaply-shot two-hander about two men adrift in a small boat at sea. One of them is injured and has a murky past, and there are minor thriller aspects to the plot, but overall this is a character study of two broken men and the mess they've made of their lives. I'm normally no fan of such productions, finding them boring, but this film's script isn't so bad and Chris Mulkey in particular is a strong enough actor to make it interesting.

Disappointing

[zob95 · 3/10 · 22 December 2015]

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.

Like watching a candle burn

[JakubBednar · 3/10 · 23 September 2015]

Definitely not a thriller as claimed.

The description mentions that they are stuck in "unpredictable waters" and the DVD cover looks like the movie might be a little exciting... as far as rough winds, waves or heavy rain goes there is absolutely none of that, it's just 2 losers in a boat talking about how pathetic their lives are. Half way through the film you start to feel like you don't even care if they get rescued or die. I was hoping towards the end a rogue wave would hit the boat and they'd both head-butt each other knocking each other out and drowning. One of the worst movies I've seen this year.

Definitely a movie to avoid unless you're under the age of 10.

A rating of 1 is even too much

[deloudelouvain · 1/10 · 3 May 2016]

I read about the story before watching the movie. It reminded me a movie I really liked, Against The Sun, about three soldiers trying to survive on a lifeboat after their bombardier crashed into the ocean. So I gave The Surface a shot. And what a disappointed that became. It's a really awful movie. The two main characters played by Sean Astin and Chris Mulkey have pointless and boring conversations on a boat in the middle of Lake Michigan. The acting is also pretty bad. Sean Astin looks like an actor from a B-movie and Chris Mulkey sometimes just mumbles something that is very hard to understand. Their endless boring conversations about their pathetic life will bore you to death. I could not wait for this movie to end and so to put an end to my misery. Avoid this movie at all cost and watch Against The Sun instead if you want to watch something similar but then with a good story.

I so wanted to like it

[sforrester-3 · 4/10 · 12 February 2021]

I enjoy films like Open Water and The Reef so I really thought I'd like this but sadly it wasn't to be. ****MAJOR SPOILERS****Sean Astin plays a character who thinks he is responsible for the deaths of two people so goes out on Lake Michigan with the intention of killing himself. He runs over a small aircraft, damaging the boat, finds the pilot and drags him aboard. The propellor on the boat is gone so they are stuck and the pilot is injured. So far, so good. Then..well, not a lot really. We are told their stories in flashback. The pilot is delivering a backpack to some dodgy guys who he insists will kill him. In the end they popped up, got the backpack and left. Possibly the biggest anticlimax in film history. There was no real sense of danger with them being stuck on the boat as, well, they were on a lake, a big lake granted but still not the middle of the Atlantic. The two deaths that Mitch felt responsible for were laughable and overall the story wasn't really well thought out. The acting went between okay and ridiculous which disappointed me as I watched Sean Martin in Stranger Things and thought he was great in it but I suppose some blame has to be attributed to the director. The ending, I'm assuming, was supposed to be uplifting and inspirational but I don't think it would be too long before he was back out on the lake for his next suicide attempt if his big life turn around was a new fish and a job in a care home. These kind of films that don't have a lot of action need to keep us gripped with good storylines and solid acting but I'm afraid this one was just blah. Change the reason he wanted to kill himself, take out the ludicrous gangster story, add some actual tension and much better dialogue between the two men and it could be a decent film. As it is, I gave it a four for the funny dog story and...sorry, just the funny dog story.

Not good.

[craiglanini · 1/10 · 31 January 2020]

I turned it off at 35:22, I couldn't take anymore.

Surprisingly Good

[LoupGarouTFTs · 7/10 · 11 September 2019]

I've seen a number of this type of movie--men against each other against nature. I generally enjoy them and this one was no exception. Astin was remarkably good as Mitch, the depressed adult child of the Alzheimer's-affected mother. He is clearly ridden by guilt and sadness when he goes out on the boat for what purpose, the viewer can only guess at.

Astin could easily have carried an entire movie by himself. He can express a wide range of emotions in a believable way, although in this film he's prone to just sadness, anger, and wistful amusement. When he's paired with Mulkey, the story takes on an entirely different tone. While he was depressed and self-absorbed prior to discovering the crashed plane, Mitch begins to care about life again. Not his own, at first, but definitely Mulkey's. Mitch begins to understand that he's not just there to face his own life, but also to (as corny as it sounds) forgive himself and take his place in this changed life.

Despite what could be a very depressing subject matter, the interaction between the two men had me laughing out loud a few times. It wasn't exactly a heartwarming movie, but it left me feeling satisfied with the ending and the way in which the storylines were tied up. The only thing is, I wish we'd gotten a chance to see Mitch's choice of dog. This movie is not for anyone who wants to see "Adrift" or "Dead Calm," but is generally enjoyable for someone who thinks that tension and violence are not inexorably intertwined.

Pass The Nitro

[websponger · 1/10 · 2 January 2020]

I wish someone would've drank the nitro glycerin... Hell, I wish I had it to drink during this movie.

Exactly what I expected

[ammoncarter · 8/10 · 8 November 2021]

I just discovered this film on Amazon Prime and saw that it had Sean Astin in it. I have liked Seans parts in every film I've seen him in so I figured I'd like this one. It's a slow paced film that mostly takes place on a boat, but the depth of the characters and the meaning behind the story carries the film through. Just a good solid film without out the bells and whistles.

Good character studies.

[HoosierBob · 7/10 · 27 October 2015]

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.

Treading in Water

[pscheck2 · 3/10 · 11 May 2020]

I was looking for another movie with the same title, and the only movie that was reviewed was this one-,so, o.k.. I though I would give it a go! I did not know the motivation of Sean, at first I thought he was just going out for an afternoon cruise, and, of course, it was almost half-way through that you find he was planning to do himself in! This is the problem:we are not made aware of his angst, again, only after quite a bit of dialogue has been expended . This is also true of Kelly-it's (angst) covered almost superficially, so we don't feel his pain. All in all, this could have been a much better film had we been made more aware of their sense of despair and loss! The acting was top drawer and with a more in depth understanding of their plight, I would have rated it 7 stars.

WTF - Brigham Young University

[dpincgk-04079 · 1/10 · 20 July 2019]

As soon as I saw this was a film promoted and essentially produced by a prominent private religious university from Utah that pretty much nixed it for me. Sorry. Disagree with ANY involvement of religion in politics, media, entertainment and government.

A Film About Sailing Into Depression

[JHTV · 1/10 · 4 March 2021]

So I thought I would take a chance and try this Amazon offering. It's like playing lucky dip with a lot of films on Amazon. What can you say about it? There was nothing thrilling about it, it was a poorly directed look at depression. Painful script writing that led to this awkward dialogue between the only two actors in the film. Neither one I cared for. I wouldn't recommend this film, not even the delightful Sean Astin can save this one.

I would rate this movie 0 if I could

[echosirra · 1/10 · 26 February 2018]

Guy takes boat out on lake, guy rescues other guy from plane crash, an hour of the most mind numbingly boring conversation I have ever heard, plane crash guy eventually gets rescued. I never even cared enough to learn their names. No conflict, no excitement, no imminent danger, no solutions to problems, no real plot. Every opportunity for something exciting to happen was handled in the most boring way possible. Plane crashed? mildly bad weather, pilot error. Plane crash guy threatens to stab boat guy? they're all buddy buddy swapping stories 5 minutes later. Mystery backpack? can't open it. "Bad guys" trying to get backpack? they stop by and pick it up without a word. Boat damaged and sinking? just lazily paddle for a bit before giving up and ignoring the rising water. Plane crash guy experiencing medical issues? cell phone conveniently gets signal now.

Maybe I'm missing the point of this movie but it's not a thriller and barely a drama. The cover is misleading because there was never any rain or waves or even a hint of bad weather. I was hoping plane crash guy would just die from his injuries and boat guy would follow through with this suicide so the movie would end.

Total snooze fest with terrible acting

[Pegasus7 · 1/10 · 20 September 2021]

Kept waiting on this film to pick up, it never did. The acting is absolutely atrocious, especially the older guy. Every time he started choking I would hope he died. Appalling film with terrible dialogue. Don't waste your time with this one, it starts mildly interesting and then takes a nose dive into complete drivel.

Kind of a Snooze

[karma-08218 · 4/10 · 28 June 2018]

I had high hopes from this movie based on the description and I also enjoy Sean Astin as an actor so I thought it would be pretty good. I was wrong. First of all, it didn't really have any sense of adventure or suspense like I thought it would. While it did explore topics that I feel are important to delve into, it just wasn't done in a manner that was effective enough to capture interest or elicit emotion.

The movie is very dialogue heavy and that dialogue is just not engaging in my opinion. I kept waiting for more to happen, but more never came.

Nice film

[keithco-95565 · 7/10 · 18 June 2019]

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.

Is it a comedy?

[lauren0531 · 1/10 · 8 January 2022]

Oh boy.

It is BAD. Between Sean's loud chewing and stories of his bad luck/choices/severe lack of intelligence and any kind of smarts, and the pilot's absolutely hideous acting, this meant to be drama is laughable, a comedy.... Almost parod-ic.

Suicide is no laughing matter, but Sean really would have been making the right decision to kill himself given how dumb he is and the injuries and deaths he caused people in his life. (Uhhhhh, assigning his dad a job and his dad ultimately having his head squished in between a delivery truck and the loading dock.... But seriously funny!!!)

A story of survival, friendship, and hope.

[jamuxcincy · 8/10 · 19 October 2015]

Sean Astin and Chris Mukley provide fine performances in director Gil Cates Jr. suspenseful film centered on two desperate men who have a chance meeting in the middle of Lake Michigan. Mitch (Astin) is determined to kill himself because he blames himself for his father's death in a factory accident. Kelly Enright (Mulkey) crashes his plane into the Lake while on a delivery of a backpack with $125,000 for either drugs or black market human body parts. Both men are desperately searching for hope and identity in their lives. The videography is stunning, and the writing creates a realistic give and take of hostility until each man realizes he must depend upon the other for survival. The film begins with a dream-like sequence of Mitch preparing for his trip out onto Lake Michigan (and his eventual suicide). He meticulously preps for his day, fills a bird feeder with enough seed to last several weeks, then visits his mother (who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease) in a nursing home. After making certain that everything he is leaving behind is in order, Mitch motors his father's small fishing boat out into the lake. Soon Mitch discovers the wreckage of a small plane and pulls the pilot (Kelly), who had been clinging to part of one of the wings, into his craft. The remainder of the film entails Mitch and Kelly discussing bleaker anecdotes of life that all of us experience and, often, keep to ourselves. Mitch has suffered the loss of his girlfriend through a skate boarding accident, the death of his father through the warehouse accident, and his mother to Alzheimer's. Through a chance cell phone call from the men who are awaiting Kelly's arrival with the money, Mitch is able to contact 911 and both men are rescued by the Coast Guard stationed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. By the time of the rescue both men have helped each discover that hope survives. As Kelly said to Mitch during one of Mitch's self-indulgent diatribes, "...don't do that to yourself [...] people have choices...". This is a must see Indy film. The acting is sound, the writing is crisp and honest, the directing is insightful, and the videography is stunning and haunting.

Good film.

[kcroslin-90375 · 6/10 · 13 April 2021]

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.

yawn....

[statia13 · 3/10 · 5 May 2016]

The story line had the potential to be a great action and adventure movie. That's what I thought I was buying, but it turned out to be a little too Hemmingway-esque for me. Two strangers stuck on a sinking boat for hours, perused by the enemy, however, that wasn't a big concern in this film. This was more of a character study. Each man telling his story. It so reminded me of the boring Hemingway books that I was forced to read in high school lit. (Not a fan) I can't recommend this movie. It was just another disappointment in today's movie repertoire. I can't even say anything about it, because it was so shallow. Perhaps I missed something.

The Water is Too Calm

[jeroduptown · 4/10 · 19 May 2021]

He's about to end it all when his boat runs over the wreckage of a prop plane. He saves the life of a man struggling himself. And in saving the other man's life, he saves his own. But it's a bore.

Tad on the boring side

[steeleronaldr · 5/10 · 28 January 2020]

This movie could have been so much better had it had a better cast. Don't get me wrong, Sean Astin is a good actor but not one where the main characters consist of only two people. I've seen Sean Astin in many good movies but he seemed to not be into this script one bit. The other actor wasn't too far behind him though he did do a better job. There just wasn't enough action to keep anyone interested in this movie. The end was truly a let down, I expected some major storm to come up or something. Had I been stuck on a boat with some strange dude who crashed I n the middle of a ocean and waste at least a day to find out he had a phone I'd be the only one being rescued. Bottom line it's not a cast away by far.