Table for Five (1983)

Oh yes, I watched this movie. Oh yes, I watched a film with a cover like this. Oh yes, it did have a very pathetic Jon Voight screaming from the back of his boat, in a very Spock-ian fashion, "Nooooooo" (modern audience may liken this yell to that of Darth Vader in the third Star Wars film when he becomes the caped crusader). My journey to watch every film ever made has had its ups and downs, but I must admit - this is my first Voight-ian slip. This is a twisty movie to watch, not from a plot standpoint, but from what worked and what didn't. There were elements that worked, there were elements that were powerful, but then there were these specific scenes, these moments (aka Voight screaming) that knocked it from a theatrical film to this unjust made-for-TV daytime drama.

Let me be the first to say, Jon Voight has some acting chops. He has some powerful abilities in front of the camera, but in Table for Five he just cannot seem to catch his footing. In one scene he is a freeloading father who finds jokes as a substitute for "real life" situations, then he is ripping his shirt off to seduce another mom on the cruise, then he tries to fight literacy into his middle child, then he is crying. He is not a defined character in this film, and it hurts - not just as an actor, but as an audience member trying to keep up. I never once saw him as these kid's father. He was always Jon Voight or JP Tannen - never "dad". His, "I would like to be your friend speech" didn't come from the heart. The scene in which he chases his adopted child Trung through the streets of a 3rd World country felt randomly inserted for no other reason than scenery. Voight was himself. While that is not always bad, it didn't fit in this film. Coupled with this was the bored emotion coming from his faux-children. Were they his? What was the story? Why did they love him one moment - and yet greedily upset the next? Our situation becomes that we just knew nothing about our characters pre-cruise, so we are left assuming that their actions now are the actions all-the-time, which is not right. The gives near the end of the film, where Voight really doesn't have money, are not only dark blows to his character, but also to us as audience participants because we spend two hours with a guy we suddenly know nothing about. It was as if the rug was yanked from our feet.

Why am I so wishy-washy on this film when it sounds like I hated all the characters? I think it is because there were parts that I truly enjoyed. I kept my eyes open for the entire two hours, I didn't need to break this film into several nights of viewing, it was a joy to see a drama of a recent generation - and it was fun to travel. The locations were fabulous. I loved being in Rome - to see the open sea - to be with this family when it landed from port to port. There was a great feeling of confinement that director Robert Lieberman was able to convey translated well, helping to build the tension, and giving us some great final moments. Then, call me a sucker, but I liked the conflict between Mitchell (played by Richard Crenna) and Voight. I wish we could have seen this closer to the beginning of the film, the dynamic these two had - with the chemistry should not have been contained.

Overall, I am a bit confused with this film. While I did enjoy smaller elements of this elongated film, there were big parts that I could not stand. The scream, the deaf British widow, the random kissing of a young Kevin Costner, and the tangent storyline with the ring found in Rome. It was all good ideas, not the best, but they were not executed well. I place blame on the director (while giving us great visuals - he could not gel his story together) and on Voight. Give me one character Jon, not twelve in an attempt for me to discover the one I like. I could not watch this film again. I wanted to give it a strong "good" rating, but after some ponderment, I cannot.

Table for Five (why this film is named this is rather unique and one of those underdeveloped ideas that decidedly went nowhere) will get a yellow highlight with black mark. It will not be suggested to friends or to family, and will not be watched again. I was intrigued with this picture, alas, I just didn't love it. Too much mess, ergo it missed the overall tone and story. This was the final one in my "Videohound 2005" book. It was not a powerful run (I think there were three nare to be watched again), but we are moving up. Modern films - here I come.

Oh, and perhaps my first television series - does that work in this experiment?