Competition becomes grimly fierce between a young drifter, just returned home to his parents' Key West manor and wanting to get into the fishing guide business for tourists, and the established middle-aged guide and his partner who believe they rule the local waters. Atmospheric and seasoned to a fault, writer Thomas McGuane's character-oriented drama, which he adapted from his own novel and directed, overdoses on Florida's marinas and verandas, conch houses and local bars, salty denizens and tin-roof shacks. The accent should be on the eccentrics dotting McGuane's scenario (and the colorful group of actors in the cast), but the milieu overwhelms the proceedings to the point where the mini-war between Peter Fonda and Warren Oates seems irrelevant. There's still a great deal of colorful talk to listen to, but the plot as such doesn't build any momentum. ** from ****
Review of 92 in the Shade
