The jokes are practically nonexistent, or simply don’t make much of a splash.
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Oh, how the mighty have fallen! From Boyz N the Hood, Jerry Maguire and the underrated Men of Honor to Boat Trip, the talented Cuba Gooding Jr. is flexing his Oscar muscle in a rather puny fashion these days. I think it is soon time for Cuba to sit back and give his agent a good old-fashioned tongue-lashing. Snow Dogs was forgivable, but Boat Trip? Come on, Cuba! You are a very talented and well liked actor. Did Artisan throw you a boatload of money to bring name recognition to this derelict of a starring vessel? There are times when a script comes to your attention and you should not even get past the first page or two. There were maybe two or three laughable moments during the film, but you are better than this Cuba.
Okay, now that I am done pleading to Cuba to get his career back on track, it is time for a few quick summarized words about the laughable Boat Trip. The premise is that Jerry (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Nick (Horatio Sanz) are two guys down on their luck in love. Jerry was rejected when he proposed to his long time love and discovers that she has fallen for her car detailing guy. Nick hasn´t had a date since high school, and that was with a senior citizen. They book a cruise where the girl to guy ratio is to be greatly in their favor. Unfortunately, Nick gets in a tiff with the booking agent and they find themselves taking a cruise for homosexual men. Then, the Swedish bikini team becomes stranded and rescued by the cruise liner and Jerry falls for a dance instructor who finds comfort in working with gay men.
My first question is this: You cast Cuba Gooding Jr. and Viveca A. Fox. You then cast the French Toast Guy from Road Trip to star alongside Cuba? This movie might have succeeded with Jack Black or Philip Seymour Hoffman, but Horatio Sanz box office weight only succeeds in helping sing this Boat Trip. The film does have some merit to its idea, but the execution is just poor. The jokes are practically nonexistent, or simply don´t make much of a splash. The film tries to build upon the success of gross out comedies and the DVD release of "The Unrated Version" scream for recognition in this lately hot comedy sub-genre, but Boat Trip is ultimately a film that wants to be one of the cool kids, but is just a poser. It is not only lacking humor, but lacking the hormonal bursting scenes other films possessed. There were plenty of boobs, but with a Swedish bikini team, you would expect them to not just reside in the background. Front and center is a requirement.
I think with a bit more work, a better co-star and some directorial assistance, Boat Trip could have been a funny jaunt on a gay cruise. There was a fine cameo by a certain British secret agent and one or two scenes were genuinely funny. The premise was two straight guys trying to pose as homosexual males in order to score with the ladies. Television´s "Bosom Buddies" had similar themes and a better formula. That too had an Oscar winning actor by the name of Tom Hanks. Many don´t remember the costar´s name from that show either (Peter Scolari). If you are looking for a funny comedy about men twisting their genre or sexual preference, watch old television repeats. If you are looking for a good gross-out comedy, I´d recommend this year´s American Wedding or countless others.
Video :
Though the movie itself is notably bad, the transfer is quite good. The film is presented in a 1.77:1 anamorphic transfer. Color, color saturation, detail, black level and other important aspects of a modern DVD transfer all get an "A" grade. There were minor instances of film grain in a few of the evening scenes, but fortunately one or two of those scenes offered sufficient distractions for male viewers. The source materials used are only dirty if you consider the actual film as such. There are no blemishes present from the original film and the digital act of bringing it to DVD appears to have been handled very nicely. This DVD looks quite good and there really are no complaints about how the DVD looks.
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