I just loved this movie. Some of the story is fairly contrived, but I could see what they were trying for and they nearly pulled it off. What they succeeded with better than any other film I have seen is the sound and feel of being on the water, pushing a sailboat to that thin edge. For a sailor, it is hard to describe that sense you get feeling a little too much air on your rigging, the sudden heel of your boat, the abrupt force being applied to your sails, and the feeling of just flying out there in the wind and the air and the water.
The story of Will Parker was a good one too, a young man striving for something, and realizing in the process those things most important to him. I loved Jennifer Grey as a bright, charming, intelligent young woman, drawn to Will yet at the same time needing to protect herself from him. It's a fun one! I should have this by tomorrow night!
The idea of getting crushed by happenstance, those pictures of Will sitting under the peer, alone and apart, shivering in the cold, not knowing what to do... a blow to the core. Things that you strived for and that were made, perhaps through no real fault of your own, unable to reach, that happens sometimes in life. I love the fact that he tried again.
The story relates somewhat to those things that Dennis Conner did, except with Dennis it was more clearly impossible to pull off. Conner was a sailor, a hired gun. He was not independently wealthy. He was the kind of guy that shows up to sail the boat, not the guy that would own the boat. When Liberty lost the Cup in 1983 to the faster, more nimble Australia II, the wealthy sophisticates at the New York Yacht Club absolved themselves by placing the blame on Dennis, even though he was sailing a slower boat that lacked the technological design advantages of his opponent. NYYC tossed him out and blamed him for the loss. After that Dennis did not curl up and go away. What Dennis did was he built his own syndicate, got designers involved, raised funds, built three new boats, built a training camp in Hawaii, took five boats there for training up the crews, picked his top two crews, went down under, campaigned for six months and won the cup back. It's not done. It would be like going to the moon on your own. Dennis had a great story, but the carry over is the getting up and trying, win or loose. That's a big risk, but to take it is huge.
And I loved the clothes that Will Parker got to wear - so cool. I would love to be able to pull that look off!
Okay, well rumor has it that a movie of teen angst might be just the ticket for dreary rainy spring days, so we will give a look to Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier as they negotiate and maneuver their way through the perils of high school society and romance. Come join us for a little fun with 'Drive Me Crazy'.
I just loved this movie. Some of the story is fairly contrived, but I could see what they were trying for and they nearly pulled it off. What they succeeded with better than any other film I have seen is the sound and feel of being on the water, pushing a sailboat to that thin edge. For a sailor, it is hard to describe that sense you get feeling a little too much air on your rigging, the sudden heel of your boat, the abrupt force being applied to your sails, and the feeling of just flying out there in the wind and the air and the water.
ReplyDeleteThe story of Will Parker was a good one too, a young man striving for something, and realizing in the process those things most important to him. I loved Jennifer Grey as a bright, charming, intelligent young woman, drawn to Will yet at the same time needing to protect herself from him. It's a fun one! I should have this by tomorrow night!
The idea of getting crushed by happenstance, those pictures of Will sitting under the peer, alone and apart, shivering in the cold, not knowing what to do... a blow to the core. Things that you strived for and that were made, perhaps through no real fault of your own, unable to reach, that happens sometimes in life. I love the fact that he tried again.
ReplyDeleteThe story relates somewhat to those things that Dennis Conner did, except with Dennis it was more clearly impossible to pull off. Conner was a sailor, a hired gun. He was not independently wealthy. He was the kind of guy that shows up to sail the boat, not the guy that would own the boat. When Liberty lost the Cup in 1983 to the faster, more nimble Australia II, the wealthy sophisticates at the New York Yacht Club absolved themselves by placing the blame on Dennis, even though he was sailing a slower boat that lacked the technological design advantages of his opponent. NYYC tossed him out and blamed him for the loss. After that Dennis did not curl up and go away. What Dennis did was he built his own syndicate, got designers involved, raised funds, built three new boats, built a training camp in Hawaii, took five boats there for training up the crews, picked his top two crews, went down under, campaigned for six months and won the cup back. It's not done. It would be like going to the moon on your own. Dennis had a great story, but the carry over is the getting up and trying, win or loose. That's a big risk, but to take it is huge.
And I loved the clothes that Will Parker got to wear - so cool. I would love to be able to pull that look off!
Well, that was a fun one, and I may offer a few more things to say about it yet.
ReplyDeleteOkay, Cathy, what might you like us to feature next?
Okay, well rumor has it that a movie of teen angst might be just the ticket for dreary rainy spring days, so we will give a look to Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier as they negotiate and maneuver their way through the perils of high school society and romance. Come join us for a little fun with 'Drive Me Crazy'.
ReplyDelete