The Lightkeepers (2009) Reviews

• The Lightkeepers

  karendht-246-2311932011-12-22

  This film is the kind of movie you wish you could see all the time. It was sweet, a bit slow but not obnoxiously so and well acted. Richard Dreyfuss is one of my favorites and he is perfectly curmudgeonly in this movie. Tom Wisdom is delightful and Blythe Danner was gorgeous! Mamie Gummer's face kept taunting me until I looked her up and discovered she is Meryl Streep's daughter. She was very understated in the film and is quite a good actress. There was mystery in the film, which was not what I expected. It reminded me of the old British comedy of manners films where there is misdirection and mistaken identities. It was a fun movie to watch and I would recommend it to anyone who likes films that are thoughtful and amusing. I just loved it!

• Plot from an old novel

  dsgrundy2013-05-14

  I probably enjoyed this movie so much, because I'm an avid reader of old books and recognized this story the minute I saw it. This movie plot was taken almost verbatim, including most of the character names and main events from an old Cape Cod story by author Joseph C. Lincoln. The book was titled "The Women Haters" and the original copy-write was 1904 . A few years ago another one of his more popular novels "Captain Erie" was made into a movie called "The Golden Boys" in which David Carradine played the leading role. It's great seeing some of the old books enjoyed by a younger generation even if only in a briefer form as a movie.

• It's amazing they still make movies like this.

  grahamandme2010-07-27

  What a relief to see a movie that was actually "made," not "digitally processed," although Blythe Danner still looks so terrific, it's tempting to believe she had help. Maybe Richard Dreyfuss puts on a "Kap'n Karl" growl a little more than necessary as an irascible woman-hater lighthouse keeper; but Tom Wisdom as his assistant-with-a-secret, with a Michael York voice coming out of a Keanu Reeves face, keeps up with him. The film manages--no easy feat in this day and age--to be a charming, sweet (maybe a tad too much), simple story about people, not special effects, without descending to the TV movie level. It's not an action-packed roller coaster ride, nobody farts or masturbates, nobody's naked, and nobody explodes, so it may confuse modern moviegoers (at least the ones under 30). But "The Lightkeepers," in its own modest way, has its own rewards, not the least of which being a rare--if short--screen appearance by Julie Harris toward the end.

• Beautiful story and film, too bad the director will be "out of sight" for awhile

  inkblot112012-05-21

  Seth (Richard Dreyfuss) runs and lives in a lighthouse on Cape Cod. He is a self-declared "woman hater", having had a wife walk out on him long ago. One day, a man who says his name is John Brown (Tom Wisdom) washes up on shore. Its certain that Mr. Brown has been through an ordeal but he is mum about most of it. Since JB is somewhat "off women", too, the two gentlemen strike up a friendship and Seth invites John to bunk with him for a spell. In short order, two ladies come to stay at a cottage near the lighthouse. One is an artist named Ruth (Mamie Gummer) and the other is an older lady, Mrs. Bascom (Blythe Danner), who is Ruth's housekeeper. Wouldn't you know, Mrs. B is Seth's long lost wife while Ruth likes what she sees in John almost immediately. But, with secrets and tangles in abundance, will anyone merit a happily ever after? This is a gorgeous film, with a lovely setting on the Massachusetts shore. Its also a great look into the world of 100 years ago, when women were getting more freedom and gumption. All of the actors listed above and the other cast members, like Bruce Dern and Julie Harris, are quite fine, although Dreyfuss' Irish brogue comes and goes. Most importantly, I wanted to see this film for the director's current woes, for he has been sent to prison for falsifying expenses for his film production company. What a tragedy, for the man obviously has great talent. Hopefully, fifteen years from now, we all will be rewarded with another movie as beautiful as this one.

• It's "lights out " for The Lightkeepers

  dawndances2010-04-25

  It was with high hopes that I drove an hour to see this movie. Well, all right... the true motivation was that Richard Dreyfuss was making an in person Q + A session appearance at the theater after the movie, and I was really pretty darned excited about that. The movie itself was sweet enough, but the story was so contrived (right down to the poorly costumed 1920's swimwear) that it was hardly even remotely believable. It was a "cute little ditty", but no where near the caliber of blockbuster movie Drefuss has been involved in in the past. I guess we all mellow out as we age, but this movie was on par with "lights out" as it was occasionally putting me to sleep. The Q+A session afterward was interesting though.