l_rawjalaurence Set in New York City, JACK GOES BOATING centers on two couples, Jack (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Connie (Amy Ryan), and Clyde (John Ortiz) and Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega). The latter couple seem happy in themselves, and make it their life's work to bring the former together. This is no easy task: Jack has little or no self-esteem, while Connie shies away from all contact, whether physical or social. Eventually Connie and Jack are brought together in a climactic dinner-party scene, where Jack has managed to cook an entire meal from scratch, despite being a non-cook. However the course of true love never did run smooth: during this scene we discover that Clyde and Lucy are not quite as stable in their relationship as we had first assumed. JACK GOES BOATING is a modest film, the directorial debut of Philip Seymour Hoffman. The style is relentlessly character-focused: Hoffman's camera gives us little respite from focusing on the varying emotions of the four protagonists. Sometimes there's a problem with tone: we are not sure whether the film is trying to be funny as it lays the characters' shortcomings bare for our perusal. Nonetheless the film is worth looking at as a study in what is not said as much as what the characters say.

digitalbookworm5678 Philip Seymour Hoffman's directorial debut and the only one so far. As an old man who been out of the "dating scene" for some time, I could completely sympathize with Jack. Being set up with a blind date and not knowing what to expect. Some say the pace of this film was too slow. It's about being in no hurry, like dating used to be (a long time ago). Clyde and Lucy, Jack friends, are in a long relationship. Jack sees them as happy and he sees in Connie his chance to be like them. He slowly woos her, ready to change almost everything about himself to succeed. When he finds out he has won her heart, he's not surprised it's nothing like his friends' relationship at all. Clyde and Lucy have a few problems that Jack becomes aware of throughout the movie. (Things he really didn't want to know.) After the dinner scene I waited for the line either Jack or Connie could have said, "I don't want us to be like them".

MartinHafer This is an odd film. It starts off a lot like "Marty" and you feel a connection to the characters, but by the end, the film's more like "What Ever Happened to Virginia Wolfe?" (with all the arguing and substance abuse)...and that's a combination that just didn't sit well with me.Philip Seymour Hoffman had apparently starred in the play on which this film is based. In addition, he directed this low-budget project. How the two projects differ, I can't say, as I never had a chance to see the play.Hoffman plays a very shy and insecure middle-aged guy who is single. His friend sets him up with a lady who is equally shy and socially awkward. While neither really open up much at their initial meeting, over time a relationship slowly develops--at which time you learn more about the two characters. She is carrying some emotionally baggage and cold probably use a sex therapist, as she is phobic about being touched. He is incredibly unsure of himself and worries excessively about screwing up. In many ways, these two people did remind me of the characters in "Marty"--but they seemed to have MUCH more emotional baggage and were much more constricted emotionally. Because of this, the film was VERY dry and slow...glacially slow. Now I could have stood this, as I did connect with the pair. But, sadly, late in the film, the couple that introduced the two began to act almost exactly like Richard Burton and Liz Taylor from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?"--and it just didn't fit with what had already been established. I wanted to see these two sweet screwed up folks together--not watch the Bickersons drink, do drugs and argue in the most vicious manner. It truly made my skin crawl.Overall, I would not watch the film. The first portion is great--the last, too dominated by the screwed up couple, was tough going. I think a tighter focus would have helped this film considerably. It's a shame, as the acting and some of the characters were nice.By the way, if you are interested, the title is referring to the risks Jack (Hoffman) is willing to take to change and grow. Despite a fear of water and unable to swim, he promises to take his new girl boating--and subsequently learns to swim and overcome his fear.

lewiskendell "You've never been in a relationship for any length of time. A lot happens."Jack Goes Boating is a raw, hard to categorize directorial debut for Philip Seymour Hoffman, adapted from the play of the same title. I guess if I had to assign it a genre, it would be indie drama. The story follows the hesitantly blossoming relationship between Jack (Hoffman) and Connie (Amy Ryan), and the rocky, established relationship of their friends Clyde (John Ortiz) and Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega). Jack Goes Boating reminded me of Two Lovers in some ways. It involves flawed people making decisions that aren't always the wisest ones, and dealing with things in their past that make their current relationships more difficult. Don't expect this to be romantic or cutesy, it attempts to go for the "realistic" angle, with all the problems and realities that come with real adult relationships. That's derailed a bit by the occasionally awkward dialogue and characters that aren't really as fleshed out as they needed to be. We don't get much of a sense of who they used to be or what their past was like, and that would have added to the movie immensely. It's somewhat difficult to put into context the characters as they are now, without that information.  Still, I think this was a pretty decent debut from Hoffman. He's clearly in the process of learning what works from the other side of the camera, and it's puzzling why they didn't adjust the odd, romance novel-like dialogue in some places, but overall, Jack Goes Boating hints at a promising future. There are some poignant moments that really stuck out, to me. Fans of Hoffman and Ryan (count me as both) should check it out.