Sitcom actor Matt Mulhern, best known for his recurring role on Major Dad, wrote, directed, and stars in Walking to the Waterline. In the film, which is apparently at least partially autobiographical, Mulhern plays Francis McGowan, a struggling actor who once appeared on a successful sitcom. In the wake of his father’s death, Francis returns to his childhood home on the Jersey shore to deal with his father’s belongings and sell the house in which he grew up. Once there, however, he falls into a kind of nostalgic stupor. His wife (played by Mulhern’s wife, Karen Mulhern), alone with their two kids, repeatedly calls and urges him to hurry home. Francis makes a few calls to his agent (a cameo by Matthew Broderick), who’s avoiding him. Duane (Alan Ruck), a childhood acquaintance who seems overly impressed with Francis’ small degree of fame, stops by uninvited. Francis tries to avoid him. One day, while out strolling on the beach, Francis meets Lucy (Hallie Foote), a tour guide who shows him around the inside of a gigantic circus elephant statue, also named Lucy. Bored and unable to deal with the emotional demands of his family life, past and present, Francis has an affair with Lucy. Not the elephant, the tour guide. In addition to Mulhern, the cast includes Major Dad vets Jon Cypher and Beverly Archer, along with Ruck and Michael Boatman, who both starred on Spin City. Hal Holbrook also has a cameo. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review
Matt Mulhern’s Walking to the Waterline has all the earmarks of a Sundance-style independent film. There’s rough language, sex, childhood flashbacks, and ennui. But Mulhern’s tale of a former sitcom star returning home to the Jersey shore to sort through emotional and physical detritus in the wake of his father’s death is never quite convincing. Lucy may seem a little too smart for Francis (Mulhern), but Hallie Foote conveys enough earthiness to make her fling with him believable. Alan Ruck, meanwhile, plays the intrusive neighbor, Duane, with just the right degree of intensity. It’s not clear until late in the film whether he’s a borderline psychotic who might snap at any moment, or just a desperately lonely man. Despite these two solid performances, and cameos from talented actors like Matthew Broderick and Michael Boatman (Mulhern seems to have called in some favors), and a pleasantly picturesque locale, the details of the film’s story are left too hazy to ever really engage the viewer. Mulhern skims over the details of Francis’ family life, his relationship with his father, and his troubled childhood, and fills in far less compelling material about his kooky neighbors. There’s a sweet underlying sadness to the film, but it’s much too soft around the edges. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
