Paddleton (2019)

Top comments

1. 

   johannez1

   Beautiful. As soon as the name Duplass is attached to something, I'm there for it, and I'm rarely disappointed. The same goes for this one.
   
   Duplass and Lehmann's previous collaboration, Blue Jay, was particularly good, so I was excited to see this, and once again they've made something equally hilarious and emotionally devastating.
   
   Duplass and Romano in their leading roles are amazing, Romano in particular delivers a beautiful performance. In the end, like many Duplass productions before, it's all about that, beautifully realised characters delivered by great actors. Highly recommended. 5 years 1 month ago
2. 

   Siskoid

   Sometimes you feel like watching awkward Mark Duplass in awkward situations with other awkward characters. He's done this (as actor or director) for awkward comedy, awkward science fiction, awkward horror... Paddleton leans heavily into awkward drama. In this two-hander, he plays a man dying of cancer, and Ray Romano is his socially awkward neighbor and best friend forced to accompany him on his final days. Duplass' character creates the situation, but it's really about Romano's, having to deal with upcoming loss, and fighting a tug of war about how to best support him. Either way, a lot of this hits close to home, as it might anyone of a certain age (you will have either lost someone or gotten your own health scares). Some will find it aimless at times, like a lot of the two friends' conversations, but it delivers at the end without forcing the issue. It's too realistic and understated to manipulate its audience into pre-ordered feels. It's just something that happens, and like real life, it's more awkward than it is epic or transcendent. 5 years 1 month ago
3. 

   buc86

   I was a bit confused by some of Romano's dialogue, where he just babbles a bunch of random stuff which I assume was improv. Random isn't always funny guys.
   
   But I do really like that neither person is made out to be the bad guy. You get both of them completely, Duplass wanting to end things when he chooses and not when cancer takes him, and Romano feeling that his friend shouldn't just give up.
   
   I love the ending

   I'm not sure I've ever seen a death scene like that before where the person just shuts there eyes and goes with no drama or music at all to build it up. Also, all done in one shot.

   
   
   The only thing lacking was maybe the question of what Romano planned to do without his friend, was he just going to get on with his life now, or was this going to be harder for him to deal with?
   
   Also some scenes seemed very filler-y, which is odd because it's a short film. Maybe it was even shorter before.
   
   Good watch though. 5 years 1 month ago

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