J.P. Tannen (Jon Voight) wants a second chance to be a father to his children ... but someone else has taken his place. Determined not to just be a friendly 'uncle' in their lives, he gets permission from his ex-wife Kathleen (Millie Perkins) and her new husband (Richard Crenna) to take the kids on a Mediterranean cruise. On the journey he comes to realise it's not that easy and, feeling overwhelmed, begins to doubt his abilities until a tragedy back home forces him to become the father he always hoped to be.
Acting
Voight's sweaty desperation as a man learning fatherhood too late.
Direction
Lieberman squeezes genuine dread from cruise ship leisure.
Director
Rob Lieberman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rob Lieberman directed this after commercials; his visual polish made the Mediterranean look like a travel brochure hiding existential dread.
Released during peak 80s 'deadbeat dad' cultural anxiety, it bombed because audiences wanted escapism, not mirror-holding. The cruise setting was meant to be ironic—paradise as prison.
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