Cabin Boy [DVD] [1994] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Honestly... the older I get, and the more views I give this flick... the funnier it gets. I've been fan of Elliott's since "Get A Life" and by the time I saw this film, any hope of anyone even knowing who he was, was long gone. But it didn't matter. I struggled through my first viewing thinking, "wow, this movie sucks hard," but for some reason still decided to watch it again. That's Elliott's charm/magic... you don't really get him, sometimes he even annoys you, but you just wanna give him another go. So... 5, 6, 14 viewings later... I get it! I get it every time now! I get a little more each and every time now! Honestly... even my girlfiend didn't want to like this and she was howling! It's about the subtleties... a funny glance, a funny dance, a flying, talking cupcake, or more than likely, a really good one-liner. Anyway... I'm rambling... watch this movie 2-3 times then enjoy!

The first time you watch this movie, you'll probably agree that it is pretty dumb, and from first glance seems like its only intent is cheap laughs and one-liners. When I first saw it, that's pretty much how I pictured it as well. It really didn't seem to have much depth besides the occasional imperceptive joke. Then, I watched it again and the entire point started to slowly unfold. The comedy of this movie is not found in jokes or funny scenes (though these do add to it), but in the plot and characters themselves. This is probably the single biggest reason people consider this movie useless; they don't see past the jokes. The real humor lies in the main character Nathaniel's personality and lifestyle. Nathaniel Mayweather is a resident at the finishing school for young gentlemen, where he puts everyone around him in a terrible mood on a daily basis and yet is able to keep his feminine "Fancy Lad" qualities and gentleman like lifestyle, i.e. powdering his bottom and listening to his dancing ballerina music box before he goes to bed. Ok, I would agree that it does sound pretty childish and immature. But the way it is acted out and all of the subtle things Chris Elliott does to pull it off make it awesome, and even after watching it many times I always find new things that he does that just crack me up. With this kind of comedy, you either get it or you don't. It's as simple as that.

So, to put my theories into action, I had my brother watch the movie and tell me what he thought about it. John, it's pretty safe to say, is not big into stupidity. The first time he saw it, he had a look of pure disgust on his face. As I said before, the jokes and "obvious comedy" about it are pretty dumb. So, later that month, I made him watch it with me again, this time pointing out some of the subtleties that I thought made it great. This time, I noticed a few more laughs than before, and even a couple impressions from the last time he saw it. By the third viewing, he was all over it. To get my brother to enjoy something that has no value or just bad jokes is almost impossible, and by getting him to look past that aspect of it and see into it more, he found a very laudable experience to be had and enjoys watching it to this day. So, in conclusion, if you're interested in trying to explore a new depth of comedy, this is really a great movie to try. Just make sure you watch it more than once. If you don't, you're in for a terrible surprise...

When I first saw this film in a theater with a broken heater suffering through a 103 degree fever, I believed that it was either a twisted flu triggered dream or one of the most delightfully insane films ever made. After all, could I attribute the presence of a mermaid Russ Tamblyn and a tabacco chewing talking cupcake to anything other than my own cooking brain. It seems that the filmmakers were under the same spell when they made this delightfully hilarious - yet horridly absurd film that has seemed to attract a legion of followers (and an equally strong army of detractors). Showcasing the talent of former Late Night with David Letterman regular Chris Elliot - fresh from the mixed success of his sitcom Get a Life (which managed to survive at Fox until a new head of programming decided he hated the show and vowed to cancel it despite decent ratings in even the worst time slots) - brought his charm to the big screen as a "fancy lad" who signs on as a cabin boy on a ship of crusty seamen after he manages to get the regular cabin boy (a great cameo by Conan O'Brien's own Andy Richter) knocked overboard and killed. Hilarity ensues as Elliot manages to upset the crew in every way imaginable - with absurd results. Full of cameos from favorites like David Letterman and Ann Magnuson - the film coasts through its 80+ minutes with ease, never stopping to try and take itself seriously. Full of extraneous bits of absurd humor and anachronisms galore - the film is like a live action episode of The Simpsons. While most Hollywood films pretend to try and make sense, its nice to have a film like Cabin Boy that completely defies sense. And Chris Elliot is so affable an actor that he manages to bring humor to even the most unfunny scenes. This is one comedy that grows in my esteem with each viewing and I never fail to find something new to laugh at.