This made-for-TV feature tries to hook high drama in the lives of present-day North Atlantic fishermen.
James Pfeiffer (Peter Facinelli), age 19 and on academic probation from college, receives a cold homecoming when he returns to Granite Bay, Nova Scotia. His father (Michael Moriarty) does not want James to leave school and continue the family heritage of independent fishermen. But James, who
learned the ropes from his late (drowned) grandfather, loves the sea. At the first opportunity, he signs aboard the scallop trawler Cape Keltic, as a sort of protege of veteran salt Kelly Dobbs (Kevin Conway), whose life he later saves when Dobbs is knocked overboard. Dobbs proposes that he and
James partner up to buy the boat of a retiring fisherman, but before anything can come of it, Dobbs is fatally injured by falling tackle. It's a double blow to James, who also learns why his father doesn't want his son fishing; Pfeiffer secretly smuggled drugs to support his household, and
deliberately wrecks his ship rather than be forced to make another illicit run. Narcotics traffic contributes heavily to the depressed fishing industry, and James is warned by his captain that the next voyage of the Cape Keltic will also be a pickup, and he best stay ashore. James determines to
make the trip, but at the last minute changes his mind. He finds his father waiting to drive him home from the pier, and their bitter estrangement thaws, even though James still plans to go fishing--someday.
CALM AT SUNSET switches the setting of Paul Watkins's source novel from Maine to Nova Scotia, not coincidentally where supporting actor Michael Moriarty made his home and also boyhood terra firma to Canadian producer/director Daniel Petrie (RESURRECTION, ROCKET GIBRALTAR). Everyone seems
comfortably at ease in the nontraditional setting, although Petrie's merely serviceable direction, a slightly prettified ambiance, and ill-matched stock shots of breaching whales and circling sharks help to remind that cameras and commercial breaks are never more than a hailing-distance away.
Peter Facinelli does a yeoman's job in his lead role, navigating between rookie anxiety and nascent authority as he embarks on his maiden voyage. Kevin Conway's credibly grizzled Dobbs makes a nice counterpoint to the subdued hero, and one wishes more had been done with the other crewmen in the
Cape Keltic's floating mini-society, captured so well by Watkins's prose. Moriarty's oddly reserved mannerisms made him a difficult casting choice throughout his career, but he's well-suited to the top-billed part of a taciturn fisherman, although his character tends to ebb in and out of the
narrative like the tide. (Violence, substance abuse.) leave a comment
