Islander

Islander Written and directed by Ian McCrudde (2006)

Somehow when this movie came out in 2006 I missed it. Oops. I was in grad school at URI at the time … can you really blame me? Nevertheless, I stumbled upon it recently and finally found time to watch it. Overall a lot of fun, there are some great aspects of it, some silly and some that I could have done without.

The story is great … a lobsterman caught up in a turf war gets carried away with anger and makes a big mistake. He pays for it dearly then tried to return to the community where he grew up. This isn’t easy, Mainers do not forgive and forget readily, so he is left to work hard to establish himself and get back on his feet on his own. There are a few that never accept him, but many learn to accept and move on.

Some from the area did not like this flick one bit and felt that it painted lobstermen in a negative way. I disagree, alcoholism and violence are present along with poor decision-making, but in what field of work is it not? I think that just as this movie shows the negative side of lobstering it equally shows the compassion, hard-working nature and forgiveness of many of the characters.

The accents are funny. I literally burst out laughing at some of the attempts. Generally the lead, Thomas Hildreth, butchers the Maine accent pretty badly, but there are moments when he nails it and he sounds exactly like one of my cousins. Loved that! Many of the other actors never really get it, but their efforts and exaggerations were humorous.

Some of the added drama could have been left out here. The story itself is compelling enough that the added side drama was not needed. I think the story would have been more effective if the audience was left to feel what the islanders must have been feeling, confusion to some degree. This man did something bad, dose that make him a bad man? Should be welcomed back because he was one of them, not “from away?” Is the decision to turn ones back on him right or wrong? All of the questions seem to be answered by the story, not left for the audience to ponder.

Like I said it was fun to watch, even though it is certainly not a fun story. I hardly think that someone “from away” would think it was fun or funny at times like it did. It is still a great movie with beautiful scenes, good minimalist acting and a great story. It would recommend this one to other, Mainers and otherwise. Watch it. Laugh at the accents. Think about what it is that make people “good” and “bad”. Take in the beautiful Maine island and ocean.