Movie Sunday: Cabin Boy

Image from here

I said last week that I had been planning to do a stupid one, and they don't get much stupider than Cabin Boy. Let me start by saying that I'm not a fan of Chris Elliot. I hated him on David Letterman, and pretty much everything else I've ever seen him in, which is as little as possible. But I loved this movie. I still have no idea why.

The film was produced by Tim Burton, who was originally supposed to direct it.  Chris Elliot plays the lead, an idiotic boarding school graduate who we first meet at the waterfront, looking for his father's yacht. It features David Letterman as a fancy-lad-hating sock monkey salesman, in a cameo appearance that was an instant classic.

Instead of the yacht, Elliot ends up on a filthy fishing boat with some filthy fisherman. The ensuing odyssey is ridiculous, and strangely sweet. Somehow, the combination is perfectly tuned to Elliot's particular brand of obnoxiousness, and the result is a very funny movie.

At least some people think it's funny. I know several people who hate this movie. A lot. But if you liked The Three Stooges Meet Hercules, you will love Cabin Boy.