The Puffy Chair is often considered to be one of the pioneering films for the mumblecore genre, a style which is often associated with no name actors and a relatively quiet script. To me, mumblecore is a naturalistic approach to topics that could've been taken with unnecessary comedy or a stereotypical, kidding approach, but since they are handled on a modest budget, they are usually taken with admirable gratitude and soul.
The Puffy Chair, released in 2005, is a unique picture for the time, but unfortunately an unsatisfying one. It revolves around Josh (Mark Duplass, whose brother, Jay, directed the film), a twentysomething who plans to travel across the country to deliver his father a fluffy, purple reclining chair that he has longed for. He takes the trip with his needy girlfriend, Emily (Katie Aselton) and his impulsive best friend, Rhett (Rhett Wilkins), and along the way, the picture decides to explore the trio's relationship with each other, along with Josh and his parents, and many others.
For the first twenty-five minutes or so, the film is poignant, natural, and keenly avoids being indulgent to this idea of mumblecore that it seemingly erected from thin air. But for a directorial debut by the Duplass brothers (Jay serves as the main director, while his brother, Mark is uncredited), you more or less remain optimistic for what their future might hold rather than this picture.
To begin with, the characters are rather stale and just tired archetypes. The main character Josh is moderately likable, his girlfriend is very overbearing, and is best friend leaves the viewer very unsympathetic. One of the biggest challenges for this style of film is that you must make everything unassuming and subtle, yet you need to provide the viewer with enough charisma and likability so they can invest valuable emotions through the characters. From someone who has seen three of the brothers' latest efforts, Cyrus, The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, and Jeff, Who Lives at Home (all of which have received a positive rating from myself), accomplish this goal successfully, while The Puffy Chair struggles to remain buoyant in a sea of difference. After a while, it resembles something of other road films, and that something is much of a muchness.
Now, the performances from the cast are capable, the script is marginally pleasing, and the directing, despite the cloying zoom tactic the brothers would continue using in their films up until present day to sort of forcefully shove style in our face, is efficiently done. It's the story and the overall lack of anything to care about that leaves the viewer empty and rather disinterested.
Starring: Mark Duplass, Kate Aselton, and Rhett Wilkins. Directed by: Jay Duplass.
The Puffy Chair, released in 2005, is a unique picture for the time, but unfortunately an unsatisfying one. It revolves around Josh (Mark Duplass, whose brother, Jay, directed the film), a twentysomething who plans to travel across the country to deliver his father a fluffy, purple reclining chair that he has longed for. He takes the trip with his needy girlfriend, Emily (Katie Aselton) and his impulsive best friend, Rhett (Rhett Wilkins), and along the way, the picture decides to explore the trio's relationship with each other, along with Josh and his parents, and many others.
For the first twenty-five minutes or so, the film is poignant, natural, and keenly avoids being indulgent to this idea of mumblecore that it seemingly erected from thin air. But for a directorial debut by the Duplass brothers (Jay serves as the main director, while his brother, Mark is uncredited), you more or less remain optimistic for what their future might hold rather than this picture.
To begin with, the characters are rather stale and just tired archetypes. The main character Josh is moderately likable, his girlfriend is very overbearing, and is best friend leaves the viewer very unsympathetic. One of the biggest challenges for this style of film is that you must make everything unassuming and subtle, yet you need to provide the viewer with enough charisma and likability so they can invest valuable emotions through the characters. From someone who has seen three of the brothers' latest efforts, Cyrus, The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, and Jeff, Who Lives at Home (all of which have received a positive rating from myself), accomplish this goal successfully, while The Puffy Chair struggles to remain buoyant in a sea of difference. After a while, it resembles something of other road films, and that something is much of a muchness.
Now, the performances from the cast are capable, the script is marginally pleasing, and the directing, despite the cloying zoom tactic the brothers would continue using in their films up until present day to sort of forcefully shove style in our face, is efficiently done. It's the story and the overall lack of anything to care about that leaves the viewer empty and rather disinterested.
Starring: Mark Duplass, Kate Aselton, and Rhett Wilkins. Directed by: Jay Duplass.