Led by Sinise, who edges his profile into every shot as if he were a model in a rustic clothing catalogue, and Malkovich, who carries on like a further infantilized Tommy Smothers (his upper register recalls Tweety Bird), the cast acts with self-conscious, surface physicality.
Coastal fisherman know that when a flock of seagulls is circling and diving into the sea a school of bluefish is often driving bait fish towards the surface and the anglers hasten to cast their lines into the frothy water beneath the screeching birds.