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 Six
years after winning an Oscar for Jerry Maguire, Cuba Gooding
Jr. has effectively flushed his once-promising career down the
proverbial toilet with Boat Trip. Not only is this doomed
voyage a cringe-inducing, morally offensive and painfully unfunny
embarrassment for all concerned, but one has to wonder just what
the heck Gooding was thinking when he signed on to do this film
in the first place (insert your own "show me the money"
joke here).
Six months after being dumped by his girlfriend (Vivica A. Fox),
a heartbroken Jerry (Cuba Gooding Jr.) decides to join his best
friend Nick (Horatio Sanz) on a tropical singles cruise. What
they don't realize is that they've been booked on an all-gay cruise,
and by the time they figure it out, it's much too late. Jerry
and Nick are trapped by their own homophobic fears, but when Jerry
falls for Gabrielle (Roselyn Sanchez), a beautiful (and straight
) dance instructor, he pretends to be gay in an effort to get
down her pants...er, I mean, get down to business. Matters get
complicated when Jerry and Gabrielle start to fall in love, but
Jerry is faced with the decision of a lifetime when his ex-girlfriend
shows up and tries to win him back.
Oscar history is filled with past winners whose careers have
sailed into choppy waters (like Marisa Tomei and Mira Sorvino),
but with this film, Cuba Gooding Jr. practically goes down with
the ship. Sure, he's made some noble attempts at serious fare
(What Dreams May Come, Men of Honor), and he's had some
success with comedy (Rat Race, Snow Dogs), but he has yet
to replicate the critical acclaim of 1996's Jerry Maguire.
It's almost as if the Hollywood studios don't know what to do
with him, which is a real shame, since he's so charismatic, likable
and talented.
Boat Trip is incredibly offensive, but at least it doesn't
discriminate between the straight community and the gay community.
The secondary characters are depicted as stereotypical, partner-swapping
sex fiends, while Gooding and Sanz go over the top in the other
direction with their homophobic fears. Admittedly, it is a little
funny--for about a minute--seeing former James Bond ladykiller
Roger Moore as a flamboyant gay man, but one has to wonder why
he came out of the closet...er, I mean, retirement for something
like this.
"Saturday Night Live" cast member Horatio Sanz seems
ill at ease in his attempt to channel the spirit of John Belushi,
and his awkward, uninspired performance more closely resembles
that of Jim Belushi. Co-stars Roselyn Sanchez and Vivica A. Fox
have more than their share of embarrassing scenes between them,
and it's highly unlikely that either one of them will even bother
putting this shipwreck on their resume.
Whether it was intentional or not (and it probably wasn't), Boat
Trip has the same sort of low-budget, second-rate feel as
some of those cheap teen sex comedies from the 80's (like Hardbodies
and Private Resort). In other words, this is the type of
movie that desperate actors make before they become famous--not
after they win an Oscar.
Geez, it's enough to make you wonder, where's an iceberg when
you need it?
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