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Rating:  -
I couldn't disagree more with previous review.
I enjoyed this film very much. There is a great story about a college student who ships out for the summer aboard an ore carrier on Lake Michigan.
The crew members he meets, and learns life lessons from are wonderful cast of real "characters" played by some great actors.
The reoccuring story about what really happened to the missing crew member is fun as well.
Not and action packed film, but a great addition to any David Mamet film collection.
By the way Ebert gave this film 3 stars. And wished this film had been made at the time he taught a class on Mamet and his films.
Rating:  -
Setting: a slowly moving boat and its crew with a young boy from a college to have a part-time job among them. Script: written by David Mamet for stage, now adapted for movie. Plot: almost nothing.
This is the shortest way to describle this film, but as enthusiastic Mamet fans (which I am not) would claim, the film's charm does not lie in the conventional story; it is a series of energetic and peculiarly funny dialogue filled with humanity between colorful characters that interests and amuses you, and this time first-time director Joe Mantegna does justice to its original merit (my favorite is rather silly discussion about Steven Seagal). During the film, nothing spectacular happens. No "Perfect Storm," no "Poseidon Adventure." What you see (or hear) is the portrayals of the mostly veteran crew which consist of reliable cast long familiar to movie fans. The old boat glides slowly on water, just like the life of the crew.
So, "Lakeboat" belongs to the groups of films like "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "American Buffalo" both adapted for movie from Mamet's stage play. It is heavily dialogue-driven, but without intense exchange of acting between heavy-weight actors of "Glengarry," which is perhaps better made than this one. As far as "Lakeboat" goes, in my opinion, casting Tony Mamet (brother to David, and one of the producers of the film) into a key role of a youth in "Lakeboat" is a mistake, I am afraid; frankly, he is not up to working with the caliber of the veteran cast such as Durning, Forster, and Falk. And the moviemakers should have reconsidered the idea of the unbilled Andy Garcia character (he appears only in flashback scenes), which does not simply work. However, Robert Forster (deservedly Oscar-nominated for his acting in "Jackie Brown") compensates for these, with his extremely humane, warm performance. When he recollects his dream of becoming a ballet dancer before young Dale; or when he remembers he considered of committing suicide, the film turns a little jem. "Lakeboat" is worth watching just for him.
As a whole, just like "American Buffalo," "Lakeboat" is a very stagy film, and that is the point our tastes differ. If you think movie is a thing to move on, you should forget it. But if you are willing to pay some money to see good acting from skilled actors, and Mamet's rough, but intriguing dialogue, watch it. It is strange but even after watching it, you might feel the boat is still going on somewhere around Michigan. The film is so true-to-life.
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