The Boat Builder (2017) Poster

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5/10
If you're a sailor or an independent soul, you'll like it
hildektipton25 October 2019
Christopher Lloyd is a delight. The story is predictable but the life of the old man, his work, and his dream resonates.
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7/10
Christopher Lloyd Is Great
gensbill7 January 2020
The acting is appalling except for Lloyd who is excellent, and Rachel Resheff who is also good as the cousin. And the script could have been much better, but it's sweet story and enjoyable to watch. If you don't go in expecting Spielberg, you will find it's not a bad movie.
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6/10
Captain Crazy
gmgregmao20 September 2019
In IMDB and other film review channels there is 'The Plot' & often 'The Plot Summary'. The plot for this film is so weak that they are one and the same! The film is very linear from beginning to end. Old hermit building a sailing sloop as his lifetime hobby. He has no need of people and enjoys his own company. Local kids tease him. One young kid befriends him. They complete the boat together. The boat is launched (you don't see any of these completions or launch - the film budget must have been like < $10k). Then the old hermit, Captain Crazy finds that the young boy stowed away on the boat but is not too unhappy about it. The film ends. It's kind of like.... I went to the beach, I dug a hole, I played in the water, I drank lemonade, I went home. If this film receives scores of 1 or 2 I can understand it. Each actor played his or her part like they were forced into do it under duress. I've still given it 6/10 and that is only because this could be Christopher Lloyd's penultimate self performance. After all he is 80 years old now.
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2/10
Simplistic with no answers
spambuck10 February 2022
Was this an improv? The only guidance for every character in the story seems to be, "do whatever you want - there are no consequences for any action you take."
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1/10
Do not waste your time
slordpsu27 August 2019
I decided to watch this movie because it started to great actors: Christopher Lloyd and Jane Kaczmerak. They are the only good thing about this movie. All other actor's performances are forced, unnatural and simply BAD! No wonder I have never seen any of these actors, as I am certain I could do a better job. The script does not flow and the end is just dumb. What a waste of time!
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3/10
Moralist icky bad writing
mmechsner23 September 2019
Ok - I'm a person of faith and I tend to like movies with a good moral storyline, BUT I like them to be well written and even plausible. This movie is not - either plausible or well written. In my opinion it's worth 3 stars - and even that is a stretch.
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8/10
It's all about Christopher Lloyd
jim-a-condon6 August 2019
I watched this movie solely to see another performance by Christopher Lloyd. He is a wonderful, talented actor.
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3/10
Where is rest of the movie? Did they forget to finish it?
ana-926-6936911 January 2023
What happened to the end of the movie... it had potential, but it was slow and lacked meat. We only got half of the bones.

The premace to the story was interesting, but it lacked substance, development of the characters and, in a few words, they only presented the cliff notes. The movie left me speechless and the review has to be 600 words, so many more that the dialog in the movie. I usually like Christopher Lloyd and I really liked the young boy. Shame on the daughter for not understanding her father's predicament and the boys uncle was absolutely clueless. The scenery was beautiful and the locale was stunning.
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4/10
Unfortunate for Lloyd
tgandemgee25 February 2024
I began watching this movie with the assumption it was going to be a simplistic feel-good movie. Though my expectations were low I was up for something that offered hope and happiness. Little did I know it would be a trial. The only reason I continued to view this movie is because of my admiration for Christopher Lloyd's willingness to provide such a quality performance despite the painfully poor acting around him and weak script.

The story is oft told of the grumpy codger whose rough edge is chiseled away by a child who has social issues of his/her own. So this story is not unique. The script is not only unoriginal, it is forced, awkward, and immature as if it was written by one of my middle school students. The acting (Lloyd being the exception) is unnatural, robotic, and lacks any convincing emotion.
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10/10
Watched this over and over Christopher Lloyd is an excellent actor
gingerlead-127 February 2020
Regardless of age Christopher Lloyd never ceases to entertain with positive feelings. I love to watch this man act, a sincere great of all times.
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8/10
Lovly film with a message for a jounger audience
OneSentenceReview29 December 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Spoilers? Well, don't watch if you're elderly or into diy boat refurb - as yo'll somehow feel as you're used for the story, without the chance of .going imto more depth..both (aging & diy boats) is stigmatized in general by 1st world societies (in this case somewhere on the coast opposite Catalina Island with its rules & regulations,but could be anywhere of course) but the writers could have as well used other examples of excentrism. Given the lacjing depth and detail I'd say it's very well suited for a younger audience, 8 to 13, around the age of the main young protagonist. (But only IF you really want to risk that you're youngsters engange in cranky stuff like building boats and venture out to sea instead of becoming a "norm" as society would like them to)
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10/10
Touching movie. Loved it!
sharyn-8608817 April 2023
Warning: Spoilers
Ignore the poor reviews. Apparently, they have to have everything laid out for them. No imagination.

This is movie is worth watching from start to finish. I especially loved the way it ended. Definitely closure.

Even a surprise or two! All the characters are well defined.

The lead characters, the old man and the orphan were believable and natural. The daughter's appearances were brief but effective to the storyline.

The story ended on a positive note. It wasn't necessary to show all the details for a satisfactory ending. The message was clear and appropriate to the storyline! I guess those poor reviewers need everything spelled out for them or they were anticipating a totally different ending.
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Modern fable of sorts, build a boat and head west.
TxMike29 November 2020
I have been a Christopher Lloyd for many years, of course as Doc Brown but even before that as Reverend Jim in the old Taxi TV series. He is the old boat builder Abner in this title and truthfully in this small movie without him it probably would not be worth a watch. The script is often very clumsy and many actors just aren't very good at all, but Abner is always authentic.

Filmed mostly in the Pacifica, California area, on the coast just south of San Francisco, Abner is a retired sea-going captain and is building this 20-odd foot sailboat on his property. But zoning prohibits that and when neighbors complain he has two weeks to get the boat out of there. An orphan boy living temporarily with his relatives comes to Abner's aid, what starts out as an adversarial one turns into a friendly relationship.

As I said, a good smaller move for Lloyd, interesting and entertaining. My wife and I watched it on Amazon streaming movies.
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