''Cabin Boy'' is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film directed by Adam Resnick, co-produced by Tim Burton, and starring comedian

Chris Elliott Christopher Nash Elliott (born May 31, 1960) is an American actor, comedian and writer. He appeared in comedic sketches on '' Late Night with David Letterman'' (1982–1988), created and starred in the comedy series '' Get a Life'' (1990–1992) ...

. Elliott co-wrote the film with Resnick. Both Elliott and Resnick worked for ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on NBC, the first iteration of the ''Late Night'' franchise. It premiered on February 1, 1982, and was produced by Letterman's production company ...

'' in the 1980s as well as co-creating the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

sitcom '' Get a Life'' in the early 1990s.

Plot

Nathaniel Mayweather is a snobbish, self-centered, arrogant, virginal man. After graduation, he is invited by his father to sail to Hawaii aboard ''The Queen Catherine''. After annoying the limousine driver who is taking him to board the boat, he is forced to walk the rest of the way. Nathaniel makes a wrong turn into a small fishing village where he meets the imbecilic cabin boy/first mate Kenny of ''The Filthy Whore''. Nathaniel believes ''The Filthy Whore'' to be ''The'' ''Queen Catherine'' until the next morning, when Captain Greybar finds Nathaniel in his room and explains that the boat will not return to dry land for three months. Nathaniel unsuccessfully tries to convince each fisherman to set sail to Hawaii, but convinces Kenny into doing so. However, the crew reaches Hell's Bucket'','' a

Bermuda Triangle The Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is an urban legend focused on a loosely defined region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and ships are said to have disappeared under mysterio ...

-like area where strange events occur. The ship is caught in a fierce storm and Kenny is knocked overboard and drowns. With only one island in the entire area, the crew decide to set sail there. Without a cabin boy, Greybar forces Nathaniel to do the chores in return for taking him to Hawaii, as well as teaching him how to become a better person. After failing all the chores he is assigned, the fishermen decide to give Nathaniel another chore that involves dragging him on a floating raft for a week. Nathaniel quickly runs out of supplies, begins consuming salt water, and suffers extreme sunburn after confusing cooking oil as lotion. He also realizes he might be going insane after sighting Kenny's ghost and seeing a floating cupcake that spits tobacco. After falling into the water he is saved by a shark-man. After nine days, Nathaniel is pulled back in and tells what happened. It is revealed by Skunk and Big Teddy that the shark-man is known as Chocki, the offspring of a male viking and female shark. Nathaniel spots a beautiful young woman named Trina swimming in the ocean. After she is pulled up in a net, Nathaniel becomes smitten with her. Not pleased with another passenger on board, the fishermen decide to strand Trina and Nathaniel on the island they're sailing toward. Finally reaching the island, the crew searches for components to fix their boat. Nathaniel tries to get closer to Trina, who constantly rejects him. Greybar and Skunk suggest to Nathaniel that a blue-skinned, six-armed woman named Calli can help build his confidence. After an encounter with Calli that results in his first sexual experience, Nathaniel again meets Trina, who becomes attracted to him immediately. Calli's husband Mulligan, a giant, comes home to find a man's bag. Realizing what Calli has done, Mulligan decides to find her lover and kill him. Nathaniel tries to save everyone by confessing to the giant he's the one who slept with Calli. Mulligan is about to kill Nathaniel with a giant nail clipper when Chocki saves him. Nathaniel then kills Mulligan by choking him with his own belt. Finally reaching Hawaii, Nathaniel offers his newfound companions a job at the hotel where his father is the owner, which they refuse. They tell Nathaniel he's a fancy lad who should stay in Hawaii with his dad where he belongs. Nathaniel and the fishermen part ways, including Trina. His father, William Mayweather, expresses disappointment in his son's actions. Not wanting to live the fancy-lad life, Nathaniel leaves to find Trina, and then both join the crew on ''The Filthy Whore''.

Cast

as Nathaniel Mayweather * Ritch Brinkley as Captain Greybar * Brian Doyle-Murray as Skunk * James Gammon as Pappy * Brion James as Teddy "Big Teddy" * Melora Walters as Trina *

Ann Magnuson Ann Magnuson (born January 4, 1956) is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer. She was described by ''The New York Times'' in 1990 as "An endearing theatrical chameleon who has as many characters at her fingertips as Lil ...

as Calli * Russ Tamblyn as Chocki * Ricki Lake as Figurehead * Andy Richter as Kenny * Mike Starr as Mulligan, The Giant * I.M. Hobson as Headmaster Timmons *

Alex Nevil Alex Nevil (born January 25, 1965) is an American film and television actor. He is known for portraying the role of Rebecca Howe's lecherous young boss " Martin Teal" in the American sitcom television series '' Cheers''. Born in Los Angeles, Cal ...

as Thomas * David Sterry as Lance * Bob Elliott as William Mayweather * Edward Flotard as Limo Driver *

Jim Cummings James Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952) is an American voice actor. Since beginning his career in the 1980s, he has appeared in almost 400 roles. Cummings has frequently worked with The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros., including as th ...

as the Floating Cupcake (voice) * Earl Hofert as Old Salt in Fishing Village

Production

The project was originally to be directed by Burton, who had contacted

after seeing ''Get a Life''. Resnick took over after Burton was offered the film '' Ed Wood''.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 48% rating based on reviews from 27 critics, with a weighted average of 5.2/10. Chris Elliott earned a Razzie Award nomination for Worst New Star, but lost to

Anna Nicole Smith Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007) was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in May 1992 and won the title of 1993 ...

for '' Naked Gun : The Final Insult''. The film was nominated for Worst Picture at the 1994 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards but lost to '' North''.

Year-end lists

* 1st worst – Bob Strauss, ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...

Legacy

Hip hop

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Dan "the Automator" Nakamura 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 Keith's debut solo album '' Dr. Octagonecologyst'', contains a dialogue excerpt from the film preceding the song "halfsharkalligatorhalfman"; the hook of the song, "Half Man, Half Shark", is sampled from the same dialogue.

Post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band A Static Lullaby reference the film in their song "Half Man, Half Shark; Equals One Complete Gentleman", the title of which is a paraphrase of an Elliott line spoken in the film. The song can be found on their '' Faso Latido'' album. When interviewed by the website IMDb, actor Brett Gelman said this was the most underrated comedy of all time.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Allmovie title, 131107, Cabin Boy 1994 films 1990s fantasy comedy films David Letterman Touchstone Pictures films Films produced by Tim Burton Films produced by Denise Di Novi Seafaring films Films about giants Films scored by Steve Bartek Films set on boats American fantasy comedy films 1994 directorial debut films 1994 comedy films Films with screenplays by Adam Resnick 1990s English-language films 1990s American films English-language fantasy comedy films