Cabin Boy is a 1994 fantasy comedy film directed by
Adam ResnickAdam Resnick is an American comedy writer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his work writing for Late Night with David Letterman....
and produced by
Tim BurtonTimothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
, which starred comedian
Chris ElliottChristopher Nash "Chris" Elliott is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman, starring in the cult comedy series Get a Life and for his recurring role as Peter MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond...
. Elliott co-wrote the film with
Adam ResnickAdam Resnick is an American comedy writer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his work writing for Late Night with David Letterman....
. Both men worked for
Late Night with David LettermanLate Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
in the 1980s, as well as the short-lived FOX sitcom
Get a LifeGet a Life is a television sitcom that was broadcast in the United States on the Fox Network from September 23, 1990, to March 8, 1992. The show starred Chris Elliott as a 30-year-old paperboy named Chris Peterson. Peterson lived in an apartment above his parents' garage...
in the early 1990s.
The project was originally to be directed by Tim Burton, who had contacted
Chris ElliottChristopher Nash "Chris" Elliott is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman, starring in the cult comedy series Get a Life and for his recurring role as Peter MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond...
after seeing
Get a Life episode "Neptune 2000". Writer
Adam ResnickAdam Resnick is an American comedy writer from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his work writing for Late Night with David Letterman....
took over the direction after Burton was offered the film
Ed WoodEd Wood is a 1994 American comedy-drama biopic directed and produced by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as cult filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau...
.
Plot
Nathaniel Mayweather (
Chris ElliottChristopher Nash "Chris" Elliott is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman, starring in the cult comedy series Get a Life and for his recurring role as Peter MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond...
), a snobbish, self-centered virginal man who just became a "fancy lad", has been invited by his father in
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
on the
Queen Catherine. However, after annoying the driver, he is forced to walk the rest of the way.
Nathaniel makes a wrong turn into a small fishing village and he meets the not-so-bright cabin boy/first mate, Kenny (
Andy RichterPaul Andrew "Andy" Richter is an American actor, writer, comedian, and late night talk show announcer. He is best known for his role as the sidekick of Conan O'Brien on each of the host's programs: Late Night and The Tonight Show on NBC, and Conan on TBS...
), and thinks the ship,
The Filthy Whore, is a theme ship, due to its condition. Actually it's a fishing boat to four foulmouthed fishermen. It is not until the next morning that Captain Greybar (Ritch Brinkley) finds Nathaniel in his room. Nathaniel also realizes that he is on the wrong boat, which will not be going back to dry land in a couple of weeks. During this time, he tries to convince each fisherman, and failing in the process, to set sail to Hawaii.
Later on, Nathaniel convinces Kenny to set sail for Hawaii. When they do, they all end up in
Hell's Bucket, a
Bermuda TriangleThe Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....
-like area that weird events occur and an area that residence just one island, a place the four decide to ship to fix up the boat. During the previous night's storm, Kenny was knocked over board and drowned, which led Greybar to make Nathaniel do the chores of a cabin boy, in exchange of taking him to Hawaii. However, he is just as annoying at his job.
The four fishermen decide to have Nathaniel do another chore, which having him being dragged two miles behind for a week to spot any sign of life, as well as get some quiet around the ship. Time goes by, with little food and water, as well as drink salt water and confusing cooking oil as lotion, Nathaniel realizes he might be going insane (after a possible sighting of Kenny's ghost and seeing a "floating cupcake" that shoots tobacco) and soon falls into the water. He is then saved by a "shark-man."
After nine days, Nathaniel is pulled back in, and told what happened, to which both Skunk (Brian-Doyle Murray) and Big Teddy (
Brion JamesBrion Howard James was an American character actor. Known for playing the character of Leon Kowalski in the movie Blade Runner, James portrayed a variety of colorful roles in well-known films such as 48 Hrs., Another 48 Hours, Tango & Cash, Silverado, Red Heat, The Player and The Fifth Element...
) explain the shark-man, known as Chocki (
Russ TamblynRussell Irving "Russ" Tamblyn is an American film and television actor, who is arguably best known for his performance in the 1961 movie musical West Side Story as Riff, the leader of the Jets gang....
), is the only offspring of a viking, whose ship sank 500 years before, and a female shark, that spared the viking's life because both fell in love. However, because Chocki would like someone, but hate him the next moment, he might be following them.
While mopping, Nathaniel spots a beautiful young woman name Trina (
Melora WaltersMelora Walters is an American actress.-Personal life:Walters was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to American parents. She was partly raised there and in Holland. Walters attended high school at Lake Forest Academy-Ferry Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois...
), who has been trying to break a world record by swimming around the world without any assistance or contact by another human being, only to be pulled up in a net by Nathaniel, thinking she was dead and he immediately falls in love with her. With the four fishermen displeased by another passenger, all decide to strand both Trina and Nathaniel on the island they're sailing to.
The crew finally get to the island, and must find pieces to fix up the boat, while Nathaniel tries to get closer to Trina, who constantly rejecting him. However, both Greybar and Skunk suggests a beautiful woman named Calli (
Ann MagnusonAnn Magnuson is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer who first gained prominence in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan...
), who can help Nathaniel's confidence and, in Skunk's words, "Clean your pipes." He meets her up at in the side of a cliff, and sees that she is a six-armed woman, who decides to help his dilemma. After doing so, Nathaniel meets Trini, who becomes attracted to him immediately by his new found confidence and strength and immediately made love. Meanwhile, Calli's husband, Mulligan (
Mike StarrMichael "Mike" Starr is an American actor. Starr is notable for his large size, standing 6 ft 3 1/2 in , and has typically been typecast as thugs or henchmen....
), a giant, comes home to find Nathaniel's bag. Realizing what Calli has done, Mulligan decides to go and kill him. However, the four fisherman left both Nathaniel and Trini on the island and Mulligan thinks he's on the boat.
Nathaniel tries to save everyone, which includes him confessing he's the one who slept with Calli. When Mulligan is about to kill Nathaniel with a giant nail clipper, Chocki, who still has a soft spot for Nathaniel, saves him. When Mulligan is grappling with Chocki, Nathaniel begins to choke Mulligan with his own belt, who then dies. Nathaniel thanks Chocki by saying, "Half-man, half-shark, makes one complete gentleman." Everyone then celebrate and finally arrive in Hawaii.
Nathaniel offer his new found companions a job at the hotel where his father is the owner, but refuse the offer because they all they know is to fish and stink. They also tell him that Nathaniel is a fancy lad and should stay in Hawaii where he belongs. Nathaniel then depart ways with them, as well as Trini.
His father, William Mayweather (
Bob ElliottRobert Brackett "Bob" Elliott is an American actor and comedian, formerly one-half of the comedy duo of Bob and Ray. He is the father of comedian/actor Chris Elliott and the grandfather of Saturday Night Live cast member Abby Elliott.-Life and career:Elliott was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the...
, Chris Elliott's real-life father), expresses his feelings towards his actions. Not wanting to live as a fancy life and now knowing that there is more than to it, Nathaniel leaves the office to join the crew on the
The Filthy Whore. However, they already left. He convinces Trini, who hasn't left yet, to join him, which she does and both swim toward the ship in the distance.
Cast
- Chris Elliott
Christopher Nash "Chris" Elliott is an American actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his comedic sketches on Late Night with David Letterman, starring in the cult comedy series Get a Life and for his recurring role as Peter MacDougall on Everybody Loves Raymond...
as Nathaniel Mayweather
- Andy Richter
Paul Andrew "Andy" Richter is an American actor, writer, comedian, and late night talk show announcer. He is best known for his role as the sidekick of Conan O'Brien on each of the host's programs: Late Night and The Tonight Show on NBC, and Conan on TBS...
as Kenny
- David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
as Old Salt In Fishing Village (as Earl Hofert)
Reception
The movie received mixed reviews from critics, with
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
maintaining
Cabin Boy with a 48% "rotten" rating based on 25 reviews. Chris Elliott's performance in the film earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst New Star.
Legacy
Hip hopHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
producerHip hop production is the creation of hip hop music. Though the term encompasses all aspects of hip hop music, it's most commonly used to refer to the instrumental, non-lyrical aspects of hip hop. This means that hip hop producers are the instrumentalists involved in a work...
Dan "the Automator" NakamuraDaniel M. Nakamura , better known by the stage name Dan the Automator, is a Japanese-American hip hop producer. He founded the record label 75 Ark, which was distributed by Tommy Boy Records during its short existence....
named his publishing company, Sharkman Music, after the film. References to the film have appeared in multiple works by Nakamura. For example, the Bulk Recordings edition of
Kool KeithKeith Matthew Thornton, better known by his stage name Kool Keith, is an American rapper from The Bronx, New York. A founding member of Ultramagnetic MCs, Kool Keith has recorded prolifically both as a solo artist and in group collaborations. Kool Keith is the self-proclaimed inventor of...
's debut
solo albumA solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
Dr. OctagonecologystDr. Octagonecologyst is the debut solo album of American rapper Keith Thornton and the first album he released under the alias Dr. Octagon. It was released May 6, 1996, on Bulk Recordings in the United States and Mo' Wax in the United Kingdom, and re-released in the US on DreamWorks Records in...
, contains a dialogue excerpt from the film preceding the song "halfsharkalligatorhalfman".
Post-hardcorePost-hardcore is a genre of music that developed from hardcore punk, itself an offshoot of the broader punk rock movement. Like post-punk, post-hardcore is a term for a broad constellation of groups...
band
A Static Lullaby-Early years and formation :A Static Lullaby came together after a casual high school jam session that led its members to quit their existing bands and come together as one. Formed in 2001 in Chino Hills, CA, the group began with singer Joe Brown, bassist Phil Pirrone, drummer Brett Dinovo, and...
reference the film in their song "Half Man, Half Shark; Equals One Complete Gentleman", the title of which is a paraphrase of an Elliot line spoken in the film. The song can be found on their
Faso LatidoFaso Latido is the second album by post-hardcore band A Static Lullaby. It was released in 2005 on Columbia Records. This album is one of the albums known to be affected by Extended Copy Protection.This is the last album with all five original members. Before Phil Pirrone and Nate linderman left...
album.