Quick Reviews!!

Rating: 7/10 (12 April 2005)

Lifeboat is an early experimental film by Hitchcock, the film mainly taking place in the limited confines of a lifeboat. A US ship has been bombed, and a number of survivors reach a lifeboat. Connie Porter is a self-interested, strong-willed reporter, Kovac is anti-Nazi, and each of the other characters have their own problems and opinions. When a young mother kills herself after her baby dies, the crew become closer and try to find a way out of their situation, deciding to sail for Bermuda even though their compass is broken. When a German joins the boat they argue over what to do, some don't trust him, others say they cannot just throw him out. The German says he knows which way Bermuda is and the others follow his course. He has another agenda though, appearing to lead them to a Nazi supply ship, keeping the water and food pills for himself. However, when he lets one of the group die they turn against him in typically brutal fashion. However, was he genuinely trying to help them? And how will the group escape now?
The film is of course character driven, but unfortunately many of the characters are not interesting and no matter what happens they seem passive and unemotional. Perhaps this was on purpose because of the starvation and dehydration, perhaps because the performances of some are average. Each actor does well, but none stand out and the tension created is small until the last 15 minutes or so. However, the film is still watchable and we do want to see if they will escape or not, and what they will do to Willy, the German Captain who sunk their ship. It is true that Hitchcock would hone these elements in later films such as Rear Window and Rope. It is interesting because we would ask ourselves what we would do in such a situation, perhaps being exposed to our enemies or those we do not trust.
7 out of 10