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Good movie but grossly overrated

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

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.

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.

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 hostileThis 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.

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.