Voyage (1993)

Simply Perfect

A different way of telling a story

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is a cookie cutter movie, as formulaic as they come for the genre of middle-to-upper class couples with marital problems getting screwed by weirdos aboard their yacht.Rutger Hauer and Karen Allen play that failing married couple who hope that a voyage on their yacht will rekindle something nice about their marriage while they're sailing around the coast of Italy. Of course, any chance of that happening is quickly interrupted when Gil Freeland (Eric Roberts in his usual weirdo thriller style), the former high school classmate of Rutger Hauer's character, and his over-sexed wife tag along for the ride after being stranded with some excuse about a delayed business meeting. But, the trip with the couple, though obviously bizarre at first, goes out of control when Freeland and his wife reveal their true nature...and their true motives. So, Rutger Hauer and Karen Allen have to protect themselves from the crazy couple.From beginning to end, it is predictable. What a shame, too, considering the cast, the relatively low budget (looks like BBC mini-drama styled photography), and the beautiful setting, that they couldn't do anything creative here. "Dead Calm" is a much better choice for this kind of thriller.

Tepid at best. The story is so cliched that within the first 15 minutes I was able to guess everything that was going to happen in the movie. It held no surprises for me.And...let's talk about the miscasting. Rutger Hauer was obviously middle-aged, and it's blindingly obvious that Roberts is at least a decade younger, and yet we're supposed to believe they're high school classmates? Give me a break! That sort of sloppiness is inexcusable.Another thing that really offended me was how they made Roberts' wife bisexual. It had absolutely nothing to do with the plot or the story; it was just there to increase the "ick" factor and make people go "ewwwww!" I hate that sort of thing with a passion. It's a cheap tactic, one that I think we all should just bury and forget.There could have been a lot more tension in this, but the story's predictability hampers any suspense. Also, the fact that they regularly go ashore robs the plot of any of the claustrophobia that marked DEAD CALM.I found this film memorable only because it was so bad. A trite story, so-so acting (and Hauer looks terrible!), and bad writing and direction make this a loser.

Voyage is a somewhat underrated film. It stars Rutger Hauer and Karen Allen as a couple preparing to enjoy a year-long voyage on their yacht. Unfortunately they are joined by another couple who aren't quite what they appear. Eric Roberts marvelously plays the antagonist. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this film. I watched another version of this story with Kate Jackson. It just reiterated to me how good a film this is. It's good! Honest!

While watching this, I found myself wondering: how is it that a good film will make you instantly care what happens to the good guys, but in a lousy film, you watch them for two hours and just hope they drown? My thoughts also drifted to the actors playing the good guys, who have starred in outstanding films with Harrison Ford and now do substandard movies. I couldn't help but notice the Heineken bottles, almost certainly at the request of Hauer. My mind wasn't on the action I guess.