User Reviews

When I first saw this, I didn't particularly dislike, let alone vehemently dislike it like so many others did. I thought it was humorous.

I have been thinking about Cabin Boy ( I last saw it some months ago), and in a way, Chris Elliotts brand of humour was ahead of its time. As I write this, I had the idea that this is the exact reason why the Farrelly's cast him in Something About Mary. Look at the humour that has come out the last 10 years. Much of it is about idiots. Idiots doing the stupidest things, saying the stupidest things, and reveling in it. And my generation (bitter end of Gen X, very beginning of Y) grew up being stupid. What I mean is that my friends and I joke around, but by being stupid for our own amusement. We lower ourselves. WHy so many 24+ year olds love Jackass is because so many of us were like that in late 90's early 00's..

And Elliot was one of the first. Handsome Boy modeling school (Get a Life)? Gotta love it. Spewey(also Get a Life)? This isn't high comedy. It is about an un-innocent moron. No one has any love for this guy. He is a loser. How many comedies were before this about unlikable losers? The Jerk was an innocent. Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello? Always innocents.

One of Elliot's problems is that he's a bad actor. But he was onto something. Come one, it not that bad!

When I was a freshman in high school, scared and nervous of the environment around me, I found solace in my year-long Television course, which was an introductory course in the forte of filmmaking and the behind-the-scenes techniques of Television shows. It was a break from the dreariness of perfunctory science, social studies, math, and English, and allowed me to interact with upperclassmen. I was one of two freshmen in the course, since most were thinking ahead to college by doing band or taking a foreign language. I remember telling my quirky Television teacher about my love for film, and how I was in the early stages of being an online film critic, before he hit me with a question I always remembered. "Have you seen Cabin Boy?," he asked. After I stated I hadn't even heard of it, he gasped and demanded, "you make time for Cabin Boy." He would demand that of me for the rest of the year in nearly every film-conversation we had.

This was four years ago, dear reader, and I'm ashamed to say I haven't made time for Cabin Boy until this past evening, to which my Television teacher would be appalled and disappointed, even more so when I say my reaction is one that isn't entirely positive. This is another one of those strange cult comedies that has mustered up a loyal, notable following after being a failure at the box office. Even after watching the film, I struggle to understand just why Buena Vista saw this idea reputable and reliable enough to funnel $10 million into the project, and likely another $5 million or so for marketing costs. Did they have faith in Chris Elliot and his commercially failing program Get a Life (this was before the cult-following for that film became largely known), or did they just want to broaden horizons? For whatever reason, it's pretty hilarious to think a solid amount of money was put behind a project I'm not even sure Elliot himself took seriously. The film is a cockamamie fantasy-comedy with Elliot portraying Nathaniel Mayweather, a snobby, self-centered manchild, who is invited by his father to sail to Hawaii aboard a large boat by the name of "Queen Catherine." Nathaniel has just become a "fancy lad" at his prep school, the highest honor, and believes no change in his elitist attitude will grant him fine wishes in the real world. After being kicked out of his limousine for being rude to the driver, Nathaniel makes a wrong turn into a small village, where he climbs aboard a boat called "The Filthy Whore" instead of his father's "Queen Catherine" and learns the boat will not be docking for at least three months. Nathaniel is stuck aboard a ship filled with foul-mouthed, unkempt pirates, and has no way of contacting his father or getting to Hawaii whatsoever.

Cabin Boy reminds me of a film, similar to Bio-Dome, in the regard that it plays like a film that would've been praised and hailed as a comedic masterwork if it were released in the early 1900's as a silent film. Being released in 1994, where expectations were far higher for film than they were in the 1900's, Cabin Boy found little appreciation initially. Speaking as someone who wants to try and give a fair and balanced review, I will say, the film clearly went through a director change, since it is noticeably scatterplotted and all over the place. According to reports, Tim Burton was originally supposed to assume the director's chair, but dropped down to producer, letting Adam Resnick take over, as he bought the idea for Ed Wood, which would later go on to be another cult success. Burton clearly could've related to the material much more than Resnick could've, making another film about a self-obsessed manchild in a surreal world with both Pee-Wee Herman films achieving great success. Even the backdrops of the film greatly resemble the artistic works of Burton himself, who would've also assure the film have some sort of commentary or overarching theme, small or large, rather than a cloying comedic emptiness to a film that would seemingly bear some internal meaning.

Having said that, one cannot fault Elliot for being a commanding comedic force throughout not only this film but his career. Elliot has always put himself in strange situations, acting as the surrealistic version of slapstick comedian Tom Green, and in Cabin Boy, he achieves success in just being fun to watch. His character, quick to insult and demean while being entirely oblivious, achieves some strong laughs, and the film returns to the building blocks of comedy, which concern a character doing something he doesn't want to do or being stuck in a situation he doesn't want to be in. Elliot is a tireless comic presence and, if nothing else, Cabin Boy brilliantly showcases that. Even James Gammon and David Letterman in a rare starring-role at times collectively match Elliot and his goofy ways.

The bottom line with the film is I didn't laugh as much as I marveled. The first thirty-five minutes proved funny, albeit a tad inconsistently, and the last forty or so proved for a nice surrealist adventure. However, the comedy of the film grows thin and inconsistent, the audience demographic for this picture is all over the place, occasionally treading on the randomness and innocence of a cartoon program to the more adult-oriented material that occurs when Melora Walters' busty character shows up on screen, and the entire event left me weary and somewhat mystified. Cabin Boy is a fine film for cult curiosity, but fails to muster anything but just that.

Starring: Chris Elliot, Andy Richter, Brion James, James Gammon, Melora Walters, David Letterman, and Alfred Molina. Directed by: Adam Resnick.

A reviewer below compared Chris Elliot to Andy Kaufman, and I don't think he knew how close that analogy really fits. Elliot is like Kaufman in alot of ways. Some people never really understood Kaufman's peculiar brand of performance, and from the looks of the reviews below, there are plenty of people who don't get Elliot. It was not always the *content* of Kaufman's performance that made you laugh, it was the fact that he was doing it in the first place. For those that saw "Man on the Moon", think about the Gatsby reading. It wasn't funny for an audience member at that Kaufman appearance to hear all of Gatsby being read, even LONG after the joke of doing it wore out. But paradoxically, if he hadn't done so it wouldn't have been as funny. What's funny is that he had the gumption to go ahead and finish the entire work, regardless of what the effect on his audience was.

Likewise, not everything that Elliot does is gut-busting hilarious. For those of us who like his work, it's the absurdity of what he did that counts. If you've seen Elliots short-lived TV series "Get a Life", than the perversely surrealistic scenery of "Cabin Boy" makes more sense. It's supposed to make the viewer feel like there is no normalcy to be found. I'm not claiming this was some great artistic acheivement, it's simply a good way to facilitate Elliot's brand of comedy. There was no comfortable, sane baseline in "Get a Life" to which characters could return, not even a basic continuity of plot between episodes (such as what characters are still alive.) Likewise, "Cabin Boy" is simply a string of absurd situations that when taken separately are not really "hilarious" in that sense. But taken as a totality, a fan of Elliot's humor appreciates the quirky nature of the film as a whole.

I say this not to convince those who don't like Elliot, only to justify the opinions of those of us who do in the face of people who simply write this film off as "horrible." In terms of quality, the TV series was Elliot's best work, but this film definitely has some appeal to some people. There really is a "cult" sort of following for this film, becuase some of us are sick of the cookie-cutter comedies that get churned out these days.

I have been a loyal fan of Chris Elliott since his early appearances on

Letterman. This movie is typical of what happens when Elliott is given creative control -- wry, warped humour delivered in such a deadpan manner that you

don't know whether he is laughing at himself or if he really is a simp. This movie has given me countless hours of debate with fans and non-fans, as I have only encountered one other person who enjoyed Cabin Boy. We often lament Chris

Elliott's underrated genius and dream of the day when Cabin Boy takes its

rightful place in film history as a classic. Hard to believe its already been ten years since its release and I still crack up every time I watch it. Only thing that could top it would be a sequel -- Passion of the Cabin Boy, perhaps?

If someone out there is compiling a list of horrible, inane and completely dull films, Cabin Boy belongs at the very top. Chris Elliot definitely should have held out for a better vehicle for his talents. Even David Letterman's cameo falls flat and lifeless surrounded by the rest of this ineptly directed and painfully UN-funny story. Elliot (whom I've always liked) plays the title character who signs on a boat seeking adventure and experience. The rest of the film revolves around the crew mistreating him, bathroom humor that isn't even remotely funny, and a cast of very bizarre characters from a shark-man to the multi-armed woman to whom Elliot loses his virginity. Trust me, you'll want these two hours of your life back. They'll be better spent watching your grass grow.

Perhaps I should take some blame for being so disappointed with Cabin Boy. I probably got overly pumped up by trailer hype. So, when I saw the movie, I was disappointed by its lack of direction or plot. Basically, I had seen almost everything that was remotely funny in the trailers. So far, this is one of the few movies that made me want to demand a refund.

Going into this movie, I thought it might get popped out of my VCR after about 15 minutes of viewing. I was not expecting to enjoy this choice my wife had made at the video store.

To my surprise, the movie is pretty funny and some of the ocean going scenes have a strong surrealistic feel to the cinematography that make the movie unique.

Chris Elliot's sun-induced bout of hallucinations alone is worth the price to rent this movie.

To provide a glimmer of how bad "Cabin Boy" is after returning it to Blockbuster (un-rewound; it wasn't spending any more time in my VCR!) the clerk profusely apologized for allowing me to waste my $2.

Where do you start in picking apart this rancid piece of moving making dribble? First off I'd like to say I've seen a lot of crap in my life (I'm a Toronto Maple Leafs fan for goodness sake) but "Cabin Boy" is by far the worst movie ever made. I rate it far worse then such forgettable stinkers as Godzilla, Johnny Mnemonic and all of the Kickboxer movies. It boggles the mind to think that somebody was actually willing to put up their own money to make this movie. Please, Mr. Burton next time someone comes up to you with this great idea for a movie about an inept and fatuous Cabin boy and his cadre of retarded and mental defective buddies, get the hell outta there!

What about the plot? The plot is nothing but some non-coherent, inconsistent scenes grouped together for maximum frustrative effect. (If a viewer finds himself wondering aloud "What the hell's goin' on, relax it's natural) Even the cameo appearances by such pseudo-celebrities as David Letterman, Andy Richter and Ricki Lake can't save this slow moving train ride to oblivion from becoming a torturous visit to the dentist's chair. "Cabin Boy" is like witnessing the slow burn of the Hindenburg, only far less entertaining.

The characters that inhabit this brain dead world range from flying/expectorating cupcakes, to multi-armed weirdoes, to Chocki the insipid shark-man. I must add that none of these characters are even remotely funny in any of their appearances, actions or speech.

Add to a movie with no-plot, no-point, no-character development some REALLY bad lighting effects and the whole thing gives you a headache. The Ocean scenes are mostly shot in this trippy orange haze that causes the viewer to either go blind from squinting or develop some sort of permanent visual handicap.

As for the dialogue, even a dyslexic, pig-Latin speaking monkey using only his tail could have come up with anything more engaging then the verbal diarrhoea smeared throughout this movie (if you think I'm joking look at the quotes section; and those are the best lines, all 6 of 'em).

The excitement level of "Cabin Boy" ranges between boring and what is only comparable to having one's head slammed between a rusty fence. The dialogue is so pointless and ridiculous that it makes Ace Ventura II seem a kin to Hamlet.

While watching "Cabin Boy" I kept telling myself it has to get better, it can't possibly get any worse. WARNING it can and it does. Shoving peas up your nose is exactly as much fun as watching "Cabin Boy." Adam Resnick edited the movie down to 80 minutes and that's about 79 minutes and 59 seconds too long. I never thought 80 mins was that long but if that is all the time you have left to live I recommend using it to watch "Cabin Boy", it'll make an hour and twenty minutes seem like an eternity. NOTE TO THE PRODUCERS: I WANT THOSE 80 MINUTES OF MY LIFE BACK!

RATING: - digits / 10

No, not in the 'it's so bad it's good' way. I truly think it's one of the funnier comedies of the last 20 years or so. Perhaps a lot of it depends on how you feel about Chris Elliot to begin with. I think he's priceless. Used to love his old show Get A Life and have followed him ever since. The plot of this, kind of a twisted version of Captains Courageous, really doesn't matter. What's fun are the numerous sight gags, Elliot's constant barrage of sarcastic one-liners and the generally anything goes attitude of the whole enterprise. The ship's crew, filled with a number of character actors we're not used to seeing in this kind of thing, are a wonderfully sleazy bunch. David Letterman's hysterically amateurish cameo at the beginning is the stuff of legend. "Wanna buy a monkey?" Ha! OK Citizen Kane it ain't. I own that on DVD btw. Right next to it is Cabin Boy.

This movie is very strange... also very stupid... This makes it a very good movie... This is coming from someone who heard Letterman asking "Would like to buy a monkey?" on an ad, and deciding they HAD to see the rest... If you're like that - I recommend it. If your not - you'll probably think it's worse than "Chicken Park" ( Which is not possible ).

Stick around for the funny scene involving Chris Elliot and David Letterman (about 15 minutes in). It's like a continuation of the skits Elliot did on the DL show...you remember..when it was funny? Anyhow, after the scene ends, immediately turn off the television and go do something else. Read a book. Walk the dog. If you don't, I bet you'll wish you did...

what can be said of cabin boy's idiotic genius? Chris Elliot proves he is the master of absurd comedy in this one of a kind, off the wall masterpiece! I'm almost ashamed to love it so dearly. The movie propels itself through a bizarre mythological backdrop using Elliots uncanny knack for brilliant, stupid, amazingly funny dialog and antics. Cabin boy stays true to all that is Elliot from beginning to end. It doesn't change its mind halfway through, and is too unassuming to attempt to deliver any heartwarming morally relevant conclusion. Chris Elliot's antihero is so lovably hate able that you feel the desire to both punch him in the face, and gently rock him to sleep in a comfy blanket. This comedy is probably not for everyone, but the payoff for those who understand its naive, cynical hilarity is worth the rental fee. Hell, you can buy it for under six bucks almost any where. It is truly a misunderstood work of pure cinematic bliss.

It should be mentioned that Tim Burton co-directed this film. It really, really shows. Scenes from the movie vaguely remind me of a live-action version of James And The Giant Peach. Some of the cinematagraphy has that obvious Burton beautiful, almost melodramatic look to it (I love that).

I would recommend this to fantasy lovers, and to people who just want to relax, suspend their disbelief, and enjoy a fantasy-laden comedic voyage through the sea.

I've always been a fan of Chris Elliot, but unfortunately this film is extraordinarily horrible. The "humor" is sophomoric; the acting, no better. The film bizarrely changes time periods with no explanation or apparent purpose. If it's attempting anachronistic humor, it fails. The film plods along like a ship cut adrift, lightened only by David Letterman's appearance. But two minutes of comedy is not enough to rescue this shipwreck of a film.

While a number of critics have discussed at length "Cabin Boy"'s allusions to earlier sea epics, such as "Mutiny on the Bounty", "Moby Dick" and "Humanoids of the Deep", surprisingly little attention has been devoted to it's social commentary. Although it may, perhaps, be an overstatement to call Chris Elliot's script "revolutionary", its message has a decidedly socialist bent. In fact, I would venture to say that none of Elliot's other work, prior to OR since "Cabin Boy" has had a comparable impact on the way ship captains treat their crew - or for that matter, on the labor movement in general in this country. It's safe to say that the success of "Cabin Boy" is a product not only of Elliot's vision, but also a fortunate case of being "the right film at the right time", so to speak.

Additionally, the cast must be credited. Brian Doyle-Murray, Russ Tamblyn and many others give the performances of their careers. The stand-out, of course, was Ritch Brinkley in a magnificent portrayal of Captain Greybar, captain of "The Filthy Whore." Far from the stereotypical old salt sea captain, Brinkley's Greybar is hard, harsh, irritable and irrascible, and yet even-handed and even sensitive, giving a textured character which is so clearly missing from many other sea films. Particularly touching is the scene when Elliot's character, Nathanial Mayweather, serves "fish-stick kitties" for the crew's lunch. Words cannot describe the emotion that Brinkley's face conveys. It's so touching because it's true!

While "Cabin Boy" has its flaws, I have no doubt that it will be greatly appreciated by landlubbers and sea captains alike, particularly those who, like myself, started their careers as lowly cabin boys.

I saw Cabin Boy when it first came out. At that time I had not yet developed the self- preserving habit of walking out of movies, so I sat to the bitter end. Humor is such a subjective thing that I can't scorn the people who had a good time at Cabin Boy. However, to me it was an endless succession of non sequiturs, poo-poo jokes, and generally low rent gags and special effects. I'm a huge fan of Bob (Elliott) and Ray from radio days, so I had great hope for Bob's son Chris. But Cabin Boy is an open and shut case for regression to the mean.

I loved it, and it's crazy, since I'm not a Chris Elliott's fan at all!

I believe the best thing about this movie is that it doesn't allege some things that it doesn't have, or bigger than it already owns.

It's solid simple fun. The naive atmosphere worked perfectly. The idiot gags looked smart. Sometimes, it's the most cynical kids' fantasy. Sometimes, it's a close spoof of (Jason and The Argonauts - 1963). And all the time, it's some fine comics.

Surprisingly, (Melora Walters) looked super cute. The sailors' team delivered so right performance. Nothing was over the top, or goofy in a bad way. All the elements harmonized to make the jest good. It even managed to be a story about a boy turning into a man along the way too.

This kind of comedies used to be twisted, disgusting, poor, or easy, whatever. But Cabin Boy isn't any of that. It's joyful, yet in loyally childish way; which can be the secret of it indeed.

Unlike so many jests, this will live long.

I had long been a fan of Chris Elliot up until I saw this film. I loved his tenure on THE David LETTERMAN SHOW (back when it was fresh and still funny)--his guy under the stairs and fugitive guy were cute little sketches. Then, when he went on to do GET A LIFE, I watched every episode--even that later ones that weren't quite as funny. So, because of my appreciation of his work, I had very high hopes for this movie. Then, I saw that a little Chris Elliot goes a very long way. A movie starring him just isn't all that funny--particularly one with no real laughs--just him behaving like an idiot. For five minutes or even 30 minutes, this is fine--but for an entire movie? It's like the absolute worst and unfunniest thing Elliot's ever done--stretched into movie length. SLOW and OVERBEARING--not funny at all.

Those who gained their initial fame on television -- even at the highest level and with top popularity -- have often found their feature films finishing at the other end of the scale. Bill Cosby and Ray Romano are two examples of this -- Bill Murray one of the few exceptions.

Chevy Chase has had some sporadic success, and even Martin Short -- one of the comedic geniuses of all-time -- has found his big-screen offerings sporadic.

I think one of the reasons is that we are just too used to seeing them on the small screen, and/or in the characters/personas with which we have become accustomed. It also seems that their films often seem to be stories which would lend them to 10- or 12-minute skits, or the 22 minutes or so contained within a half hour program.

Chris Elliott avoids this completely in this funny presentation. He succeeds in taking this character over-the-top, with the same quirky skill we've seen him employ on television so often.

At 80 minutes, he also avoids making it overlong, and the supporting cast and Letterman's cameo are all well-presented, too.

It's "quirkiness" is likely the reason this film didn't receive a higher overall rating in this site, and among professional reviewers.

However, for me it's a thoroughly entertaining and engaging movie, and best of all, funny as hell.

Orginally a vehicle to be directed by Tim Burton, who abandoned the project in order to make his masterpiece Ed Wood released the same year, Burton stayed on as a producer and left all other control to star/co-writer Chris Elliott and co-writer/director Adam Resnick.

Elliott's big claim to fame at this point was as a sketch performer on The Late Show with David Letterman and he also had a sitcom on Fox called Get a Life and had a supporting role in the wonderful Groundhog Day.

Here however Burton initially wanted Elliott to be the lead and when he left as director it was up to Elliott and his collaborator Resnick to make a movie.

Elliott's performance reminds me a lot of Nicolas Cage's performance in Vampire's Kiss with a very uneven tone that makes it goofy fun.

The story is very bizarre but that adds a certain charm to the movie reminiscent of Burton films.

The visuals are also pretty creative even though the movie had a fairly low budget.

This is definitely not a movie to appeal to everyone. If you enjoyed Chris Elliott's work in any of the aforementioned or There's Something About Mary or if you like Tim Burton movies then you will probably enjoy this.

I didn't laugh out loud but it definitely had some laughs. I felt some of it was over the top in being bizzare but I kind of like that it tried to be something different at the same time.

Seems like many have been divided on their opinion of this flick. It flopped at the box office when first released and reviews are very mixed from audiences and critics alike, with some saying it is great because of how bizarre it is to others finding it way too weird and unfunny on top of it.

For me it's a very middling movie. I like some of its uniqueness and creativity but I do also agree some of it is way too bizarre and that is both good and bad.

David Letterman's cameo appearance adds a big laugh here and although I am not a huge fan he steals his scene. Good writing I feel attributes to that.

I also do not feel Chris Elliott's career should have been hit as hard as it was by this movie. While he did go on to have supporting roles in hits like There's Something About Mary this remains his only film as a lead actor, and although his performance is uneven I admit that added some charm that could have continued to do very well as a lead in other films.

Whether you have heard great or very bad things about this movie I can confidently say it is a very original concept that has some enjoyment, and it is nowhere near as bad as its haters have made it out to be.

A definite acquired taste, if you so have that acquired taste give it a watch.

What can I say? Every unfunny joke is hopelessly telegraphed and Chris Elliott needs to get over thinking he's the funniest thing since Ernie Kovacs. A good supporting cast battles valiantly against the script, but even such sure hands as Brion James, James Gammons and Russ Tamblyn can do nothing with it. Ann Magnuson's brief turn as Kali(for some reason spelled 'Calli' in the credits) is the only saving grace of this appalling waste of cellulose.

I am really shocked by this movie's super low rating of not even five out of ten, I figured it probably would be kind of low since it was not as good as Chris Elliott's TV show Get a Life and a lot of people didn't like his humour or this movie, but it was pretty good. It's obviously not for everyone with a really "out there" sense of humour but for what it was it was really funny, with a lot of laugh out loud gut busting moments. David Letterman's "wanna buy a monkey?" cameo is fantastic and Chris Elliott is great as the full of himself, super annoying rich kid turned cabin boy. I really recommend it if you like any of his other work or Get A Life.

Cabin Boy displays a type of humor that crosses several categories. There's some slapstick, there's some meanness, there's a lot of weirdness, and there's some slight naughtiness. It seems to be in the same vein as the late 90s/early 2000s TV show, Family Guy.

Chris Elliott, usually a supporting player, got a lead role in the pathetic excuse for a movie "Cabin Boy". Basically a series of disgusting occurrences, the movie tries to merit laughs but only yields chuckles at best. The cupcake scene was particularly unnecessary. If the movie has any redeeming qualities, it's that David Letterman has a brief appearance. You may recall on the 67th Annual Academy Awards, he pointed that scene out and showed other people rehearsing for it.

All in all, don't waste your time on this junk. Chris Elliott has done much better work than this ("Groundhog Day", "There's Something About Mary", "Osmosis Jones").