By contrasting the radically different relationships of two couples, Jack Goes Boating, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s directorial debut, presents a sincere, yet staid picture of love among middle-aged adults. Clyde (Ortiz) and Lucy (Rubin-Vega) try fruitlessly to patch their threadbare marriage, but boredom and infidelity drive them apart. They direct their effort toward pairing their friend Jack (Hoffman) with Lucy’s co-worker, Connie (Ryan). While the film’s plot concentrates on Clyde and Lucy, its emotional center is fixated on the sugar-sweet romance into which Jack and Connie throw themselves.
Jack and Connie are essentially children; when set against the backdrop of Clyde and Lucy’s excess of experience, the couple appears underdeveloped. But Hoffman imbues Jack with affectionate quirks, such as a constant attachment to his Walkman and an intermittent nervous cough, and Connie’s longing for victimhood provides intrigue to their otherwise generic exchanges.
In classic indie-flick fashion, the film has overly stark cinematography and a clever script. Awkward silences abound between Jack and Connie, but their sole impact is to prolong already lengthy scenes. Hoffman deftly pairs these moments with breathy voiceovers and the tunes of Cat Power and Fleet Foxes, adding a much-needed dose of warmth to the chilly NYC winter during which the action unfolds.
Comedy does lurk among the seriousness, though the two become entangled. Jack and Connie maintain a somber conversation about love, but it’s set to her gasps of pleasure as he fingers her. Satisfaction and disappointment become equally entwined as Clyde and Lucy tear their marriage apart, but Jack and Connie’s relationship blossoms. The film itself embodies this pair of emotions; Hoffman’s acting is superb, and his directing hints at future greatness, but for the moment he leaves more to be desired.
JACK GOES BOATING
Directed by: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Starring: Patrick Seymour Hoffman, Amy Ryan, John Ortiz, Daphne Rubin-Vega
Rated R, 89 min.
