All the World Can Hold

With the world still reeling five days after 9/11, a Bermuda-bound pleasure cruise presses on, and the passengers’ private crises feel just as weighty to them as the terror attacks, in Yun’s acerbic if overstuffed debut. The cruise ship Sonata has seen better days, back when it was used for filming Starlight Voyages, a popular Love Boat–esque TV series. Now, it’s hosting a reunion cruise where passengers mingle with former cast members including Doug, a washed-up actor who’s desperate for any gig. Paying customers include Franny, who booked a family trip to celebrate her Korean mother’s 70th birthday, and whose desire to be a good daughter trumped her husband’s suggestion that the cruise would feel “frivolous” at such a time. Among the other passengers is MIT computer science PhD Lucy, risking a job opportunity at fledgling tech company Google by postponing an interview. Added to her ambivalence is her nagging sense of regret over leaving behind her earlier dream to become an artist. Two wide-angle chapters on 9/11’s aftermath (blood banks, flyers for the missing) feel unnecessary, but Yun succeeds at presenting the cruise as tragically absurd, as when the cast participates in a “sexiest male legs” contest and Doug is overcome with a taste of “pure bile.” Beneath the farce, there’s a great deal of depth to this character-driven work. Agent: Jennifer Gates, Aevitas Creative Management. (Mar.)