Rock the Boat (2023) User Reviews

It takes an hour for the boat

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 17 August 2023]

Ten years after her family was killed in a tragic car crash, college student Millie Barnes (Parker McKenna) has a bright future and plenty of friends. Or maybe I should have written that she had plenty of friends, as they start dying off one by one. Now, Millie has to figure out who is killing them all and why.

If you watch Tubi Originals, you know Chris Stokes (three movies of The Stepmother, The Assistant, Picture Me Dead) and his usual writing partner, Marques Houston (No Way Out, You're Not Alone). They're back for another thriller that has a lot of I Know What You Did Last Summer to it.

A decade ago, Mille had to deal with losing her parents Eric and Tracy. Sure, she's made a comeback, but those scars run deep. Yet she's now the most popular girl in college and her friends come from rich and powerful families, like her boyfriend Kaleb (Marc John Jeffries), whose father owns the company that she's about to start working for fresh out of school. Her other friends are Adam (Jorden Smooth), Lewis (Paul Toweh), Bree (Asia Harmony), Terri (Taylor Crawford), Timmy (Milo Stokes), Sophia (Zonnique, whose father is T. I. in real life), Channel (Janina Gordillo) and Sommer (Iyana Halley).

Well, you can cross the first four off the list. Adam overdoses on steroids (which rarely happens), Lewis slips and ends up with a broken neck, Bree's heel breaks and she falls off a balcony and Terri, the daughter of Judge Eleanor Smith, is killed in a car crash. Someone starts sending letters to Millie teasing each of these murders, asking if they were accidents.

Can she figure out who the killer is before the two detectives on the case? Will Timmy and Kaleb kill one another before the murderer gets to them? Will it take an entire hour before we even get to the nautical vessel this is titled after? Is there a secret sibling? Will I watch every single Tubi Original?

Of course. Yes. Uh-huh. Yep. Totally.

There are also childhood flashbacks, the fabulous Aunt Carol (Cynthia Brady), a strange woman named Olga (Carnette Jones), our protagonist with a bomb strapped to her and an ending that teases a sequel that knowing Stokes, Houston and Tubi that I feel sure that we will receive.

Horrible writing and acting

[destinyryan · 1/10 · 21 August 2023]

I made an account just to give a 1 star. The writing in this movie was horrible. So many non-sensical stories with lackluster acting.

The end would have been much better if the siblings were actually working together the entire time. That would have made a better plot.

In one scene, Sophia( Zonnique's character) says it was a mistake calling the cops since they were no help. The female officer walks out and then the male cop(JBoog) proceeds to say call us if you need help. Why would someone call you for help if you've already proven to be useless?

Also the scene where the officers revealed Millie's parents death. The babysitter answers the door and they proceed to ask for Millie a minor to break the news. Not only did they bypass the adult babysitter they didn't even call for the brother who was EIGHTEEN.

This could have been a good movie but the inconsistency, the writing and the poor acting ruined it.

Chris and Marques, please hire seasoned writers

[ryleilove · 2/10 · 20 August 2023]

Where do I start?

This is yet another movie added to the Chrubi (Chris + Tubi) Universe. As usual, I appreciate the creativity. However, I think if Chris and Marques hire one or two more writers to clean up the script editing awkward and or out of place lines or lines that are mediocre at worst...hahaha, would definitely enhance the movie. Hearing little Katie constantly calling her brother brother, was so cringe. Olga constantly yelling at little Katie...cringe. The way Zonniques (I forgot her characters name) "uncle" kept looking her up and down and hugging her...cringe. I guess I can blame that on direction vs script. The young lady who dies by falling down the stairs had JUST LEFT THE ROOM. When they are in interrogation, one of the friends say she went on a date. She didn't even make it to the date so that line could have easily been an explanation of how they didn't see anything and she was on her way to a date...yes...no??? That example might sound small but if this were a real life situation, you wouldn't tell the cops someone went somewhere they didn't go. When I watch a movie, I want to be immersed in the movie and forget I'm watching something. I want to be apart of it which is why it's challenging to rate a lot of movies anything over a 4.

They hire c-z list actors and rightfully so. I'm all for employing those who aren't necessarily a or b list especially in the black community. Love, love, love that. That being said, I can write about the acting, but it's no point. It actually wasn't terrible....from everyone. Little Katie (idk her real name) is cringy at times. Olga, while absolutely gorgeous and I loved watching her melanin on screen, was super cringy like omg. I love Cynthia Bailey but her character and characters divorce storyline was cringe. She's not the best actress either and I doubt she's planning to be - sis needs a bag and is expressing her talents, I respect that - but I will say, she did a lot better than she did in the stepmother movie. This time around her character had a little more substance and purpose. I guess with more to work with she can show us a little more of what she herself is working with acting wise...but it doesn't change what I said about her character being cringe.

This story had some potential but it felt underdeveloped and left me feeling underwhelmed.

It just so happened that the brother was able to get all the kids at the same college at the same time? Yea, ok, sure. That's laughable. When the cops came to let the family know the parents died, why only ask if the youngest child is home when there's a whole 18 year old grown man they could've spoken to? There are more questions, some plot holes and bad angles at time, but it's a watch I guess. Definitely won't be circling back, but at least I can cross it off the Tubi original watch list. I would have given this a 4 if not for all the cringe moments. I wish I could do halves because this could've been a 2.5 from me.