The Extraordinary Seaman directed by John Frankenheimer is puzzling in the sense that how could a film directed by Frankenheimer, which includes performances by David Niven, Faye Dunaway, Alan Alda, Mickey Rooney, and Jack Carter, and music by Maurice Jarre not be entertaining? After a string of successes from the beginning of his career in the 1950's with television drama through the 1960's with several film classics, Frankenheimer failed miserably with this film. Due to the short running time of 80 minutes compared to the usual much longer running times for his previous films, one wonders whether the film was taken out of Frankenheimer's hands at one point.
Niven is an old sea captain who has a secret, later discovered by the over-acting Alda, who nearly sleepwalks through his role. Dunaway starts out promising as a woman who can help a crew or hinder it, but shortly after boarding ship, Dunaway's role becomes forgettable. Alda overacts his way through the film progressively more as the film unfolds, and his forced romance with Dunaway makes her seem uncomfortable in the film. Rooney and Carter, who can both be very funny when given something to work with, are completely wasted with little or nothing to do.
The film purports to be an adventure/comedy but it's neither interesting nor funny, and the non-existent story just falls flat long before the revelation, which occurs an hour into the film. The denouement is a preposterous letdown. The most interesting parts of the film are the archival footage edited in to the film for what was probably intended to be comedic/ironic effect. However, the old clips took up almost a quarter of the film, which means there wasn't much to watch to begin with. A huge waste of talent considering those involved. 0 of ****.
Niven is an old sea captain who has a secret, later discovered by the over-acting Alda, who nearly sleepwalks through his role. Dunaway starts out promising as a woman who can help a crew or hinder it, but shortly after boarding ship, Dunaway's role becomes forgettable. Alda overacts his way through the film progressively more as the film unfolds, and his forced romance with Dunaway makes her seem uncomfortable in the film. Rooney and Carter, who can both be very funny when given something to work with, are completely wasted with little or nothing to do.
The film purports to be an adventure/comedy but it's neither interesting nor funny, and the non-existent story just falls flat long before the revelation, which occurs an hour into the film. The denouement is a preposterous letdown. The most interesting parts of the film are the archival footage edited in to the film for what was probably intended to be comedic/ironic effect. However, the old clips took up almost a quarter of the film, which means there wasn't much to watch to begin with. A huge waste of talent considering those involved. 0 of ****.