A Year in Mooring

Narrative Competition
D: Chris Eyre; with Josh Lucas, Ayelet Zurer, James Cromwell, Jon Tenney

A man works his way through the stages of grief in this meditative study, which is anchored by Lucas’ consuming performance. Onscreen for almost every frame of the film, Lucas (who is also a producer) holds our attention as we intimately observe his activities and try to comprehend his journey. Screenwriter Peter Vanderwall has provided very few emotional markers or biographical details for the character, who is merely identified in the credits as Young Mariner. The film opens as the man buys a ramshackle boat that’s too beat-up to leave the dock. We watch his solitary life as, week by week, he repairs the boat’s motor, plumbing, and sails, while also drinking himself to sleep and slowly letting go of his distance from the Waitress and Ancient Mariner, who keep a concerned eye on him from the shore. This hard-won return to seaworthiness by both man and boat is beautifully filmed by Elliot Davis.

Wednesday, March 16, 6pm, State Theatre

This article appears in March 18 • 2011.

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.