Recently, the Duplass brothers have received quite a bit of attention from Leonard Maltin as well as a few other critics. So, I decided to see a few of their films. While I can easily understand SOME of the enthusiasm, either I'm missing something or I just haven't gotten to the right films they've made. Today I watched "True Adolescents" and "The Puffy Chair"--both of which had a lot to like as well as a lot to dislike. On the plus side, Mark Duplass played some very interesting and non-traditional characters. And, fortunately, the films were NOT forumulaic. But on the negative, the people weren't exactly likable and the endings were incredibly unfulfilling--making me, oddly, wish they'd been at least a bit more formulaic! As for "The Puffy Chair", I am glad I looked at the IMDb listing before I saw the film. Because of this, I knew that they only spent $15,000 on the film--FAR LESS than even Ed Wood spent on his films--and his were absolutely terrible--and "The Puffy Chair" was certainly not a terrible film. So, at least dollar-for-dollar, it's amazing film--with better acting than you'd expect, better production values and a less crappy look than you'd expect for the amount spent. Because of this, I could ignore the shaking camera. But this doesn't mean I could ignore the plot (which, like life, didn't seem fully worked out) as well as the difficulty I felt trying to connect with them--as all three characters seemed annoying and very immature. Still, there WAS a lot of promise in this film (and "True Adolescents")--so maybe their newer stuff is just a bit better.

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.

I watched this movie on a sleepy "nothing good is on, but I just don't feel like doing anything serious right now" afternoon during the Winter Holidays, but was in for a very nice surprise. It's a linear plot, yet, it's far from being predictable. But what I liked the most about this flick is its exquisite sense of humor; it probably also helped that to me Joshua's character was somewhat reminiscent to that of Peter Gibbons in my all-time favorite movie Office Space. In a general sense, this movie really reminded me of Before Sunset in terms of its overall charm and the natural nature :-) of acting. (Unfortunately I haven't seen Before Sunrise yet, so I can't really refer to that one in this comparison.) So to conclude, this movie was well-written, well-directed and very well-acted; it would be nice to see more indie masterpieces like this.

I'm very skeptical about love stories. I know that movie-romance never lives up to its expectations in real life. So The Puffy Chair was refreshing for me. Sure, it was a bit amateur. The camera shots weren't artistic. There weren't fancy transitions or the ending we were all hoping for. But that's how REAL life is. Plain, simple, real.I read in one of the other user comments that someone didn't understand the relevance of the Puffy Chair as a title. In my opinion, the chair was used as symbolism for the relationship we follow throughout the movie. It's almost a reflection.It's initially presented as a typical lounge chair; It looks comfortable in the picture, although it might be a little lumpy around the edges. When the three travelers arrive to take it further on the journey, they realize that it's a bit more worn-out than they originally thought. They forcibly fix it, until it eventually goes up in flames, despite an aggressive revival attempt.So while the chair itself is not the MAIN focus of the story, I think it definitely has more relevance than how it is presented on the surface. You just have to dig a little deeper.