Such a fully satisfying film is a rarity. A story of family, struggle, and love told with great humor, intelligence and heart. I've already seen it twice and am telling everyone I meet to be sure to catch it. I was blown away by Amy Adams' touching performance in JUNE BUG and by the raw beauty of Melissa Leo's work in FROZEN RIVER, but have been slow to distinguish among the crop of young male stars and directors who deserve to be household names. Christian BALE, MARK WAHLBERG, and David O. RUSSELL are names now branded in my consciousness. This season I've been stunned by the creative forces at work in films including SOCIAL NETWORK and JACK GOES BOATING, but for its overall achievement, this amazing film based on the true story of two boxers from Lowell, Massachusetts earns a championship. It is much more than just a fight film or a biopic though it certainly sweeps us into the drama of the boxing ring and quivers with the diamond gleam of truth. Bale's finely etched creation of Dicky and Wahlberg's extraordinary dual turn as producer and star in the role of Dicky's brother Micky should place both men front and center for Oscar nominations along with Russell who shaped the film with a keen sensitivity. Russel's team of artists including cinematographer, costume and sound design were all spot on in their respective contributions. Tho Leo and her gaggle of daughters struck me at first as verging on caricature, I quickly saw that they perfectly captured the family culture while providing a delicious comic motif.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Jack Goes Boating
(2010)
This Boat Floats!!
29 November 2010
For its humor, emotional honesty, and glimpse of almost unfathomable decency in a world as untidy as Hoffman's Rastafarian locks, this film rises to a place among my all time favorites-- along with David Mamet's "State and Main". Although Hoffman's wonderfully imagined writer in the Mamet film shares some of Jack's ingenuous sensibility, Glaudini's writing and Hoffman's embodiment invest the doughy type with the necessary twiggy fiber to make the character heart-achingly real. Trailers and reviews give lots of specifics about plot, but thankfully do not catalogue all the film's pleasures. Jack and his boating date, Connie, are both outsiders and both uncannily patient-- driven perhaps more by uncompromising values than by fear. Clyde and Lucy, the aggressively magnanimous pair who mentor the new couple provide an important counterpoint. And all four actors in these central roles leave their egos someplace outside the frame enabling us to enjoy every surprising ripple of character. With the plot's unfolding, we are not taken for a ride but for a journey.
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