'Walking to the Waterline': One Step Too Far

June 16, 1998

Showings:
June 17 - Enzian, 5:30pm

A crane shot pans up the exterior of a huge wooden elephant, opening Walking to the Waterline - at this stage, I was wondering what the hell I've let myself in for - Milly and Dave got to the Jersey shore with their brood of brats. Luckily, this was not to transpire, as Lucy the elephant, and her guardian Lucy the guide (Hallie Foote) lead TV actor Francis to question what the hell he's doing as middle age approaches: career on the skids ("You're not hot", his agent (Matthew Broderick) tells him) and a family to look after with his residuals as his show plays out in Italy and reruns on cable. Where do faded TV actors go to pasture - the Betty Ford clinic?

Returning home to Longport to sort things out after his dad's death, Francis has to deal with his memories, his future and those he left behind. "You're a star here," the over-effusive Duane (Alan Ruck) tells him. But Francis knows otherwise. Wandering around the windswept boardwalk and great swathe of beach, he slips into the bottle and an affair with Lucy while procrastinating about what the hell to do with himself. As Lucy says, "there are those who tried and succeeded, those who tried and failed, and those who never tried at all - that's me". Duane also is almost at the wrist-slashing stage as his wife has left him after becoming a Buddhist and moaning about his 3am to 12pm shift at the local casino - the only place that offers work in winter. "It's a great shift," he laments, "I got to put the kids to bed, hang out with them in the afternoons..."

Yep, it's pretty much your standard US indie fare - lots of self-analysis and the search for the Holy Grail of the meaning of life. No earth-shattering ground is broken, but the languid pace of the Jersey winter is well captured as the story meanders about, emotionally following the dour turbulence within Francis. Upbeat and life-affirming this is not, so if you're feeling a bit vulnerable yourself, give this one a miss!! The characters are well fleshed out, Ruck's Duane delivering a decisive moment for Francis as he ponders whether to hang around for a while or not. "That's a terrible idea," Duane tells him, as we watch them in long shot playing with electric cars by the shoreline. Francis' repeated rhetorical question, "What the fuck am I doing?" is answered.

Peter Lewis
A true African-American, Peter has led a peripatetic lifestle, and after graduating from UCF with a film degree, he is pondering life as another wannabe, devoting his time to working on a novel, his thesis film, a suntan and the dubious benefits of Rogaine.