Grand-daddy's dyin', and who's got the boat? He's the legendary Burt Lancaster, a grizzled widower who invites his brood and their many grandchildren for one seeming last summer fling at his ocean front cottage. The adults do nothing but argue and coddle the father, while the children (which includes Macauley Culkin) plan a surprise for their granddaddy's upcoming birthday. The middle generation of this family (which includes Patricia Clarkson, John Glover and Kevin Spacey) are selfish and too involved in their own cold lives to really see what's going on around them, and when Lanchaster tells his grandchildren of his dream of a Viking's funeral, they take an abandoned boat and prepare the best birthday present a grizzled old man could want, other than maybe a visit down memory lane with a VHS tape of Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth in "You Were Never Lovelier".
Formulatic family drama with more than a touch of "On Golden Pond" thrown in, "Rocket Gibralter" seemed so much better when I first saw it in the movie theatre, and while still enjoyable, I found it rather one dimensional for the middle generation, none of whom I really could identify with or even like. The film tends to move slowly at times, but when Lanchaster sits with his grandchildren spinning stories with them, particularly the adorable Culkin, it glows. It also has amazingly beautiful sunsets to look at and a haunting musical score as well. The ending, while sometimes unbelievable, is very touching, and if you are a first time viewer of this film, you may want to keep a few hankies with you. I know on my first viewing of this 25 years ago, I was very angry at myself that I didn't have them, because I desperately needed them.
Formulatic family drama with more than a touch of "On Golden Pond" thrown in, "Rocket Gibralter" seemed so much better when I first saw it in the movie theatre, and while still enjoyable, I found it rather one dimensional for the middle generation, none of whom I really could identify with or even like. The film tends to move slowly at times, but when Lanchaster sits with his grandchildren spinning stories with them, particularly the adorable Culkin, it glows. It also has amazingly beautiful sunsets to look at and a haunting musical score as well. The ending, while sometimes unbelievable, is very touching, and if you are a first time viewer of this film, you may want to keep a few hankies with you. I know on my first viewing of this 25 years ago, I was very angry at myself that I didn't have them, because I desperately needed them.