The Puffy Chair
2005 Directed by Jay Duplass
Synopsis
Josh's life is pretty much in the toilet. He's a failed NYC indie rocker, and a failing booking agent. But he finds the potential of a small victory in a really bad idea. He decides to purchase a 1985 Lazy Boy on eBay, just like the one his dad had when Josh was a kid. He'll drive cross-country for the chair, staying with Emily at his brother's house on the way, and deliver it to his father as a surprise birthday gift. But when Rhett ends up coming along for the ride, it's three people and a giant purple puffy chair in a too-small van... and one of them has to go before the trip's end.
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Got some serious Stranger Than Paradise vibes from this film, which I definitely can appreciate. Katie Aselton really knows how to cry.
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My first introduction to this so-called "Mumblecore" movement has left me with a good taste, and I'm curious for more.
I'm familiar with Mark Duplas and the gorgeous Katie Aselton (his wife in real life) from the show "The League". This is where they got their start. Mark is one half of the Duplas Brother's, who have now broken into the mainstream as writer/directors with the recent "Cyrus" and upcoming "Jeff who lives at home".
At it's core, it's a film that delves into that often comfortable period of a relationship when you've been together forever, but haven't quite committed to being married yet. The chemistry between Mark and Katie is incredible, and their heated arguments at points are almost…
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Easy to see that this is the prototype for mumblecore films to come, the Puffy Chair works best when it has relationship insight with its raw dialogue and showing the little things that cause a relationship to run its course. The genre will later show better efforts on both ends of drama and comedy (even from the Duplas Brothers themselves) but as a blueprint, the Puffy Chair works fine balancing the two.
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Wonderful debut from the Duplass brothers, whome I've begun to really like. Mark Duplass plays a man buying the puffy chair for his father's birthday and taking his on-screen girlfriend, real life wife, Katie Aselton, and his brother on a road trip.
Aselton's character may not be to everyone's liking, but I found her performance raw, naked, and very emotional. It deals with relationships in an honest, no bullshit manner, that I found refreshing. A great proof of how movies can still be great on a shoe-string budget. -
While there are some truly hilarious moments and lots of intentionally cringe worthy ones, this film is only so-so. Unlike Jeff Who Lives At Home, I found nobody to identify with in this film. But that didn't stop me from laughing and appreciating the performances.
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While I was not a fan of Cyrus, I am slowly starting to see the appeal of the Duplass Brothers. Pleasantly surprised by this film, especially in regards to how the central relationship played out.
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I've been sort of peripherally annoyed with the Duplasses and generally averse to watching their stuff because the general aura of half-assed whining that permeates the humblecore genre they helped pioneer. This vague feeling wasn't reduced after seeing Cyrus, which doesn't deliver on any of its premises possibilities. So I was sort of shocked by how much I liked The Puffy Chair, and moreso, by how much of a REAL MOVIE it feels like. There's not much of a plot, but every scene has well-observed character detail, which builds to the characters making genuine, and surprisingly dramatic, choices. I was most pleased by the fact that the dramatic visit with the parents didn't focus on revealing the father to be the source of his son's neuroses. People's shit is, at some point, their own, and even if we are fucked up by our folks, as Philip Larkin wrote, it's rarely clear just how they went about doing so.
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While there are some truly hilarious moments and lots of intentionally cringe worthy ones, this film is only so-so. Unlike Jeff Who Lives At Home, I found nobody to identify with in this film. But that didn't stop me from laughing and appreciating the performances.
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Great performances, the characters feel very real and the dialog is very natural without the usual polish that generally separates reality from script.
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Not quite what I was hoping for out of the Duplass Brothers' debut, as the brand of humor that is evident in their later outings is not present here. Tone was a little too serious-minded for the subject material and some scenes had the tendency to drag, I felt, though it was nice to see the younger Mark Duplass and Katie Aselton at work.
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The Puffy Chair is the first film by the Duplass brothers, and it's made with a mere $15k budget and the best cameras they could afford. While one would expect this to give the film a low budget quirky charm, it hinders the film's overall quality, as the film turns out to look more like an extended home movie than a legitimate production. Furthermore, the film is marred by the lack of a cohesive script besides the chair acting as the McGuffin. Lastly, the dialogue being non existant and being almost completely improvised don't help elevate the narrative into believability or even help to enter campy entertainment. This film is a slog and a chore to sit through.
The directing…
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One of my favorite aspects of so-called "mumblecore" films is the dialogue, often unscripted, which usually feels so much more genuine than most of what you hear in films. It lends an authenticity to the story and the characters (particularly when the actors are skilled--or at least absorbed in their roles) that you don't see in your standard Hollywood fare. While the dialogue is always a draw, sometimes the downside is the lack of plot (whether by design or not). The Puffy Chair manages to have a good dose of both authentic dialogue and a compelling plot, and is definitely an excellent example of the Duplass brothers' storytelling skills. Puffy Chair combines comedy and pathos quite well, often in the…
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Worth seeing if you wish to be acquainted with the "Mumblecore" genre. It's been a few months since I watched it, so my thoughts aren't fresh, but I remember it being slightly disappointing.
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Very much an Indie Film, The Puffy Chair has a lot going for it. The characters are very well rounded, and though the "mumble" makes some dialogue inaudible its very well written and developed. While it may be lacking both comedy and drama, it certainly is a well structured film. There is something very likeable about the film, and I'm keen to see more.
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ah sweet Mumblecore