Full Moon in Blue Water (1988)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Peter Masterson

Writer:

Bill Bozzone (written by)

Release Date:

23 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Floyd, the owner of a bar on the Texas coast, has been depressed for a year after his wife disappeared in a swimming accident...

Plot Keywords:

Bar | Bridge | Wheel Chair Bound | Husband Wife Relationship | Poignant

Cast

Gene Hackman	...	Floyd
Teri Garr	...	Louise Taylor
Burgess Meredith	...	The General
Elias Koteas	...	Jimmy
Kevin Cooney	...	Charlie O'Donnell
David Doty	...	Virgil
Gil Glasgow	...	Baytch
Becky Ann Baker	...	Dorothy (as Becky Gelke)
Marietta Marich	...	Lois
Alexandra Masterson	...	Annie Gorman (as Lexie Masterson)
William Larsen	...	Jack Hill
Mitchell Gossett	...	Marone
Mark Walters	...	Johnny Gorman
Ben Jones	...	Digby
Ed Geldart	...	Man #1

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | Germany:16 | Finland:S | USA:R | Singapore:PG

Company:

David Foster Productions

Quotes:

The General: There are no real men around anymore, goddamit.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Night Game (1989)

Soundtrack:

I Know I Belong To You

A story about people.

Full Moon Over Blue Water is a character-driven narrative about Floyd (Gene Hackman), a middle-aged man whose life is decaying at the same rate as the rundown bar he owns in Blue Water, on the Texas coastline of the Gulf of Mexico. Floyd spends his days watching home movies of Dorothy, indulging an exaggerated longing for a wife who's gone missing, while those around him, whose lives are inextricably tied to his, try to carry on in his cerebral absence. Louise(Terri Garr), his girlfriend, wants marriage and has ambitions to revive the flagging stocks of the Bluewater Bar. The General(Burgess Meredith), his crippled and irascible father-in-law, in need of Floyd's continuing care, understands in his own way that his daughter is dead and that Floyd should move on. Jimmy(Elias Koteas), an erstwhile employee, of limited intelligence and recently released from an asylum, craves Floyd's approval and interest to remain stable and out of harm's way. All need Floyd's participation in their lives to function in a civilised and meaningful way. There are one or two subplots along the way, but, in essence, this is the story of four people trying to bring meaning and dignity to their lives out of the conflict that Floyd's sense of hopelessness has created. The resolution of their problems seems to go off the rails a bit near the end, but there is something appealing about this meditation on life that I liked, in spite of generally being dismissed by the critics, and I would recommend it to anyone who can set their cinematic sights outside blockbusters and complicated thrillers.