Reviews

Morning Light

A curio of a documentary

By TOM MEEK | October 15, 2008

2.0 Stars

The stock market’s tanking; the war in Iraq goes on with no end in sight. What better time for producer Roy Disney (nephew of Walt) to release this curio of a documentary about 15 Ivy League kids who get paid for the opportunity to sail in the Transpac — a 2500-mile race from California to Hawaii? Most of the crew look as if they’d leapt from the pages of Abercrombie & Fitch. Any dynamic that Steve, a motherless black kid from Baltimore, might inject gets washed away when he fails to make the 11-person race rooster. Beyond that selection process, there’s zero wind. The team sails, eats crappy food, and utters such inspirational inanities as “Bring it on,” and “That sucks all around.” If it weren’t for the ritzy camera work and the trumped-up soundtrack orchestrated by directors Paul Crowder and Mark Monroe, this tub would be dead in the water. 105 minutes | Kendall Square

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Astralwerks (2010)
Less

Topics: Reviews , Ivy League, Abercrombie & Fitch, Paul Crowder, More

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ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | May 17, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture ( i.e. , Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, and American Idol ) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS | April 24, 2012
Peter Lord, animator behind claymation staples Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run , directs this very British, very dry romp on the high seas during the time when Britannia did indeed rule the waves.

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | April 18, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture (i.e., Paris Hilton, the Kardashians and American Idol) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: UNDEFEATED | March 15, 2012
Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin's Oscar-winning documentary about an underequipped high-school football team competing against big-time programs across Tennessee offers a potent contemplation on race and opportunity.

REVIEW: DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX | March 01, 2012
Regrettably, this team loses a lot of Seuss's quirkiness, though not the message about corporate greed and slash-and-burn imperialism.