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Review #230 of 365
Film: The Puffy Chair (2006) [R] 85 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.00
Where Viewed: Starz FilmCenter at the Tivoli, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 29 August 2006
Time: 5:30 p.m.
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
If you follow the independent film world at all, there is no way you cannot have heard of The Puffy Chair. It was a real crowd pleaser at Sundance 2005 according to those in the know. The look and feel of the film can be likened to another low budget, independent film of about 5-6 years ago, known as The Blair Witch Project as does the film's ending which leaves one feeling spent, cheated, and angry that you got 'played' into caring about what happens to these people. There is the same voyeuristic quality about it that only low budget lensing can bring ironically enough. You get one of two feelings due to the shaky camera works, alternately fading and blaring sound design, as well as washed out lighting, and splotchy filming, that either you are really there watching these people through some peep hole or you have found a box of their home movies in your attic and sat down to watch them. It's simultaneously creepy and yet addictive. The characters seem much more like real people. They seem a lot less like they are acting and a lot more like they are just living. Some credit is due to the actors for being able to either play themselves so well or to play their characters so well that it just seems like they are playing themselves so well—without a larger public repertoire it would be difficult to say which.
"…leaves one feeling spent, cheated, and angry that you got 'played' into caring about what happens to these people…melancholy dramedy…fascinating…worth a look."
The Puffy Chair was written by Mark Duplass and directed by his brother Jay. This duo has created a full compliment of short films; and, no doubt, the commercial success of The Puffy Chair will set them up for many future films to come. There is no question that Mark has quite a bit of talent when it comes to writing characters that are real. How much of his own character spills into his on screen character, Josh Sagers again is hard to know at this point. Josh is a very interesting guy. A former musician and band member now booking agent, he decides for some sentimental reasons that he doesn't go into and maybe doesn't even fully understand, he buys on eBay a big, puffy, wine-colored, recliner chair similar to the one he recalls his father sitting in when he was a kid, for his father's birthday. Acquiring the chair requires a long road trip from Atlanta to North Carolina to pick it up. After a huge fight during dinner with his long-time girlfriend, Emily (Kathryn Aselton), over his acceptance of a cell phone call during their schmoozing dinner-time baby talk, he woos her back into a giant 16 passenger van for the road trip to get the chair. A planned stop over to visit his brother Rhett (Rhett Wilkins) turns into a pizza dinner while watching Rhett's latest film of an iguana in the bushes, and Rhett joining them on the road trip—which, of course, cramps their style. We really start to get a look into what makes these people tick that night when Josh tries to scam the motel clerk into believing there is only one person who will be staying in the room. The saving of $10 doesn't sit well with either Rhett or Emily, but Josh has established himself as the director of this trip. Josh's subsequent pants-less tear into the motel room attempting to avoid detection by the nosey motel manager stands out as one of the most hilarious parts of this melancholy dramedy. As their lives and the road trip continues to unfold, we get to know more and more about these people and their values. Emily and Josh seem constantly at odds at a core level making it difficult to see what other than familiarity and comfort has kept them together this long. Meanwhile, Rhett is some sort of ethereal being on a different plane of reality than the rest of us who picks up vibes from inanimate object, ultimately the Puffy Chair itself, and gravitates toward situations that will bring him pacifist emotional energy. This is especially ironic given that Emily and Josh are hotbeds of the opposite kind of energy.
In the end, Josh and Emily learn a great deal about each other, enough, one would think for a satisfying if not happy ending. Instead, we are left with rolling credits and one of those "Blair Witch you figure out what happened" endings which I loathe. I find no creative satisfaction in a writer who sets everything up and then either because he or she believes it ostensively more artistically creative or actually cannot dream up anything better to just let the story end with the excuse that allowing the audience to guess what happens next is more satisfying. Uh uh. If I wanted that, I could have just dreamed up the entire thing myself. In any case, the unsatisfying ending aside, The Puffy Chair has its great moments. Perhaps its flaws and imperfections actually are what make it seem so much more like watching real lives. In that it is fascinating, though the film borders, perhaps, too much on character study and too little on the characters' growth, change, and learning about themselves—in other words, we end up knowing more about them than they know about themselves. Finally, there is much to like and dislike about The Puffy Chair. Either way, the film is worth a look, just be prepared to be unfulfilled by the end.
In the end, Josh and Emily learn a great deal about each other, enough, one would think for a satisfying if not happy ending. Instead, we are left with rolling credits and one of those "Blair Witch you figure out what happened" endings which I loathe. I find no creative satisfaction in a writer who sets everything up and then either because he or she believes it ostensively more artistically creative or actually cannot dream up anything better to just let the story end with the excuse that allowing the audience to guess what happens next is more satisfying. Uh uh. If I wanted that, I could have just dreamed up the entire thing myself. In any case, the unsatisfying ending aside, The Puffy Chair has its great moments. Perhaps its flaws and imperfections actually are what make it seem so much more like watching real lives. In that it is fascinating, though the film borders, perhaps, too much on character study and too little on the characters' growth, change, and learning about themselves—in other words, we end up knowing more about them than they know about themselves. Finally, there is much to like and dislike about The Puffy Chair. Either way, the film is worth a look, just be prepared to be unfulfilled by the end.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
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The Puffy Chair (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
The Puffy Chair was a real crowd pleaser at Sundance 2005. It bears the look of another low-budget, independent film of 5-6 years ago, known as The Blair Witch Project as does the film's ending which leaves one feeling spent and cheated that you got 'played' into caring about these characters. There is the same voyeuristic quality about it that only low budget lensing can bring. Written by Mark Duplass and directed by his brother Jay, this duo has created a full compliment of short films with this being their first full-length feature. While their collective talent is unquestionable, this film borders too much on character analysis and too little on the characters' growth--in other words, we end up knowing more about them than they know about themselves. Finally, there is much to like and dislike about The Puffy Chair. Either way, the film is well worth a look.
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