Jack Goes Boating

Though you may be overwhelmed trying to get to the theater to see all the movies making a splash this award season, there are new DVDs out today that will justify your desire to stay in. These new releases may not have been Golden Globes nominees, but they still made an impression on me, and now they're yours for rental.

Buried

Ryan Reynolds puts on a one-man show in the thriller Buried, where he plays a truck driver in Iraq who gets taken hostage and subsequently buried alive. He has a cell phone, a light, and about 90 minutes to figure out how to get himself rescued before he runs out of oxygen. Though it sounds like a stressful premise, it's a riveting and engaging film in which Reynolds really gets to show off some impressive acting chops. I was blown away by the film and more than a little disappointed that it didn't get recognized this award season. DVD extras include a making-of featurette and the original trailer.

85%

Jack Goes Boating

Philip Seymour Hoffman both directs and leads the cast of this indie drama as a lonely man who falls for an equally lonely woman (Amy Ryan). As their connection grows, the married friends (John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega) who set them up must examine their own connection. It's wonderfully acted, but very subtle (if a little bit slow), so rent it if you're in the mood for an understated romance. The extras include deleted scenes, the trailer, a featurette about adapting the original play for the screen, and a feature called "Jack's New York."

67%

Find out the other notable new release when you read more

Relationships have long been fodder for the introspective indie film, and Philip Seymour Hoffman tackles the subject in his directorial debut, Jack Goes Boating. The film centers on two couples: a long-married one enduring their own trials, and a tender new one. Hoffman stars as Jack, a dread-locked limo driver whose friends, Clyde and Lucy, try to set him up with Lucy's co-worker, Connie (Amy Ryan).

Though Jack Goes Boating can be so subtle at times that it gets tedious (and honestly, a bit boring), it's still a well-acted drama about striving to improve oneself and accepting imperfections in another person.

To read what else I thought of the movie, just read more

Opening in limited release this weekend, Jack Goes Boating is Phillip Seymour Hoffman's directorial debut. A drama about a burgeoning relationship, it's not just indie in regard to film genre; its soundtrack is stuffed with indie-rock cred as well. There are tracks from Fleet Foxes and Cat Power, but the movie's musical godfather is Grizzly Bear. The Brooklyn-based band collaborated on the score and provided one of their songs for their soundtrack, "All We Ask." From last year's album Veckatimest, the track is as emotional and gentle as I expect Jack Goes Boating to be.

We've seen this story before — awkward, 40-something schlub falls in love with an equally awkward (yet more attractive) woman — but there's something about this trailer for Jack Goes Boating that's still endearing. In his directorial debut, Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Jack, a limo driver who gets set up on a blind date by his only two friends in the world, Clyde (John Ortiz) and Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega). The lucky lady: a funeral parlor worker named Connie (Amy Ryan). They begin their courtship, but Jack hits a speed bump when Connie suggests that they go boating together — and Jack can't swim.

The film is based on an off-Broadway play, which coincidentally enough, starred three of the actors. As such, the preview has an intimate, slice of life feel, an off-beat sense of humor, and a few emotionally charged scenes. Sounds good to me, but my only question is, what is up with Hoffman's dreadlocks?! The movie premiered at Sundance, where it was well-received, but take a look at the trailer when you read more