Robert Cicchini’s “Waterwalk,” based on a memoir by Steven Faulkner, is an uplifter following a canoe trek made by a newly fired newspaperman and his adopted Korean teenage son, tracing the route taken by explorers Marquette and Joliet from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to St. Louis in 1673. Spoiler: the latter-day duo doesn’t agree on much. “Waterwalk” is yet another entry in the burgeoning twenty-first-century American tradition of soothing, reassuring, earnest, oh-so-small micro-movies that capture a moment in less-traveled, often verdant reaches of the land. Be prepared for phone conversations in lieu of drama and flat, unnuanced lighting, especially in undernourished interior scenes. With Cicchini, Chase Maser, Mary MacDonald Kerr, Richard Riehel. 121m. DCP video. (Ray Pride)
“Waterwalk” plays Saturday and Sunday at Siskel. The trailer is below.
Ray Pride is Newcity’s Senior Editor and Film Critic. He is a contributing editor of Filmmaker magazine.
Ray’s history of Chicago Ghost Signs is planned for publication next year. Previews of the project are on Twitter and on Instagram. More photography on Instagram.
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
Spawn Sacrifice: A Review Of The Creator "The Creator" is richly detailed, punchy, pulpy, punkish entertainment that still has highly serious subjects in mind, without growing didactic and with substantial heart.
A Drag Getting Old: A Review Of Indiana Jones 5 In the protracted opening couple of reels, a very young, computer-crafted Harrison Ford plays a younger cultural marauder who first encounters the dull MacGuffin of the title.
Fine Line: A Review Of Shortcomings It's a season for the comeuppance of a curmudgeon in Randall Park's smart, biting "Shortcomings," adapted by Adrian Tomine from his graphic novel of the same name.
Robert Cicchini’s “Waterwalk,” based on a memoir by Steven Faulkner, is an uplifter following a canoe trek made by a newly fired newspaperman and his adopted Korean teenage son, tracing the route taken by explorers Marquette and Joliet from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to St. Louis in 1673. Spoiler: the latter-day duo doesn’t agree on much. “Waterwalk” is yet another entry in the burgeoning twenty-first-century American tradition of soothing, reassuring, earnest, oh-so-small micro-movies that capture a moment in less-traveled, often verdant reaches of the land. Be prepared for phone conversations in lieu of drama and flat, unnuanced lighting, especially in undernourished interior scenes. With Cicchini, Chase Maser, Mary MacDonald Kerr, Richard Riehel. 121m. DCP video. (Ray Pride)
