Movie Review: Harpoon

Harpoon *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Rob Grant   

Written by: Rob Grant and Mike Kovac.

Starring: Brett Gelman (Narrator), Emily Tyra (Sasha), Munro Chambers (Jonah), Christopher Gray (Richard).

 

In Harpoon, three characters go out for a daytrip on a boat, and then get stranded there. It’s a rather simple premise – one that has been done before – but co-writer/director Rob Grant keeps the twists and turns coming, keeps the tension at a boil, and manages the transition from dark comedy into thriller into out and out horror quite well. He is aided greatly by three performances that subtly shift their characters in ways that at first appear like they are out of left field, but actually make a lot of sense in general – and by the bemused narration by Brett Gelman, the all-seeing eye, who seems to be enjoying the plight of these three rotten people who perhaps deserve each other. Does the film have a twist (or maybe two) too many? Perhaps. Is there any deeper meaning here – not really. This is a low-budget genre exercise, but it’s done well.

 

Even before the three friends get on the boat there is tension. Rich kid Richard (Christopher Gray) – who it is implied has a mobster father – suspects his best friend Jonah (Munro Chambers) – a kid from a middle class family, dealing with the death of his parents, and his own inferiority complex has slept with his girlfriend, Sasha (Emily Tyra) – and handles it violently. Jonah and Sasha convince him he’s wrong – which is what brings up the boat trip anyway, Richard trying to apologize to the two people who he says he loves the most in the world. But he doesn’t fully believe them – there is something between Jonah and Sasha – she acts perhaps like an overprotective big sister to him, and perhaps Jonah is nursing a crush. The pair team up against the hot headed Richard at times. Of course, things go wrong on the boat – and the trip become stranded. Secrets and lies will be split, tensions will rise as days go by and they have no food or water, and the prospect of rescue becomes fainter and fainter. They will starve to death – if they don’t kill each other first.

 

The dark comedic tone of the film is established early – with Gelman’s narration introducing us to the characters. He’ll come back throughout the movie to tell us tidbits – and trivia – and basically just to mock these three out there. In other hands, the narration wouldn’t work – but Gelman’s delivery is perfect, and adds to the fun here. Grant, the director, is basically playing God with these three characters – so adding in a voice that reminds of that is a nice touch.

 

And the three leads are quite good. When they start out, you think you have a handle on exactly who each is, and what their relationship to each other is. Richard is the rich frat boy with a temper – who can keep his friends around because he has the money – and the boat – to keep them happy, and they just put up with his shit to get access to that. Jonah is the nice guy – the put upon guy, who hasn’t quite figured anything out yet, but will be okay once he does. Sasha is a little more complex – she’s with Richard, but she’s not a gold digger. She likes Jonah – but as more of a caretaker than anything else. What she actually gets out of this dysfunctional triad is debatable – but she’s also started to realize that for herself. And yet, throughout the film all three grow more complex than you expect them too.

 

Does Harpoon add up to anything except a fun little genre exercise? Not really. It doesn’t really need to though, because it is such a fun genre exercise – it holds your attention, and the changing tones are handled well by Grant. I do think the endings raises some questions (the third last twist, specifically) and personally, I didn’t find the last twist – even if it does perfectly keep with the dark, ironic tone of the money. Still, to so skillfully get through an exercise like this – and keep it movie, keep it entertaining, involving, and then to truly make things gory and scary, is a nice little accomplishment for all involved.