A Meandering Family Journey Down the River on a Sailboat is More than ‘Just An Illusion’ (Movie Review)
Just an Illusion
Rating: 6/10
Director and Writer: Jay Meyers
Style: Documentary
Time: 80 minutes
Review by Mike Szymanski
Did you ever want to own a sailboat? It seems like a lot of people have dreams of owning a sailboat and sailing away and out of your troubles.
This family gets into troubles with their sailboat, but it’s all fun and part of the family problems.
Even if you never wanted to own a sailboat, can you imagine spending 11 years with your four grown sons on it? Well, it’s not that bad, and it’s not a bad journey, but a rather interesting dream that looks at the realization of a family dream.
From the outset, one of the sons says, “It’s not what we think it’s going to be day to day.”
This is a meandering journey of the dream of Tim Meyers to navigate a river with a 27-foot sailboat. The journey starts with Tim buying the boat in 2007 and realizing it needs some maintenance, and his four sons all pitch in to help.
The clips and the story skips around from year to year, and issues and problems happen along the way. The boats they deal with are in constant need of some kind of maintenance, and the guys go into great detail explaining what needs to be fixed and how they go about doing it.
Tim tells amazing stories about his inspiration for sailing and stories of trips he took in his past. He has an amazing tale of a trip in New Zealand, and braving 30 foot waves in a massive storm that made him think he wasn’t going to make it.
Stories like that make the guys decide not to take on the open seas, but instead head down the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. They have their maps, and hopes, and reach some obstacles, but they are all in it together, and that’s what keeps them going.
It gets really cold, and they are shown bundled up while they sleep, and while another is fixing a leak, and they keep trudging their way down the river.
It’s not a typical documentary, it’s more of a meandering slow-moving picture into this Midwestern family as they head to Mobile Bay, Alabama. The biggest criticism I have of it all is that it has the guys telling too many stories, rather than showing the stories to the viewers, but that’s OK, because it’s obvious that the camera can’t be with them all the time.
Believe it or not, this is also educational for a novice boater, and will give you an idea of what it’s like and maybe reasons why you don’t want to get one. The interviews are real and candid, which is nice that the family lets the filmmaker get into their lives, and keeps it moving.
Director and writer Jay Meyers follows Tim’s dream of getting down the river and his grand illusion that he wants to experience with his sons. It’s inspirational in showing that if you set your mind to doing something, you can make your dream come true even if it takes four decades to start it and more than another decade to accomplish it. His dreams may be a bit altered before it’s all over.
But there is a lovely reunion of sorts, at the end, and you’ll have to see that heart-warming moment on your own without me spoiling it.
One truly wonderful surprise is this astounding soundtrack created by Aurelio Damiani and Christian Carpenter Fields. The music is beautiful and uplifting, and something that is perfect for a cruise down the river.
(This documentary is available for rent or purchase on Amazon video https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B08FF61JGX)
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