Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Nicolas Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Steve Pulaski 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.

SeriousJest When keepin' it real goes wrong...this is actually a great film, from an artistic perspective. The acting is top-notch (I've liked Mark Duplass & Katie Aselton since The League, but I gotta say I didn't know they had this level of dramatic acting proficiency in them), the dialogue is extremely realistic, and its depiction of human relationships is insightful. However, it gets pretty dark, and I didn't relate to the characters that well (except, in some ways, Josh, because he's a problem solver & leader, and while he's not above blame, I saw his side most of all). I almost rated this one lower, because I didn't like the way I felt afterwards (I rate movies based on overall entertainment value, rather than pure artistic merit)...I've encountered enough of this movie's situations in real life to not want to watch others go through it on screen. That being said, I respect the message, it's an awesome conversation starter, and a really a good little independent gem...just save it for one day when you're mad at people in general, and you want to embrace that disdain. You also might want to think twice about watching it with your significant other...it could start a fight.

giantpanther Most films are crappy with high production values, this one is crappy without high production values. Which sets it aside from the large pool of horrible movies. As bad as this film was I need to give due respect to Kathryn Aselton who, I believe if given the proper script, could probably turn in a pretty good performance. She plays Emily the girlfriend to perennial doofus Josh, who often refers to her as "Dude" or "Man" in a non-ironical tone.But heres the thing, Emily is a semi-believable character which means Rhett will soon need to be added to the cast, to counteract this almost believable character with a guy even more preposterous than Josh. When we first meet Rhett we learn that he is "deep" because he is videotaping a lizard which is PROOF that he sees the world "uniquely!" Rhett then shows the tape to Emily and in one of Emily's few unbelievable moments she acts impressed by this amateur tape of a lizard, WOW i believe is how she responds once again with no irony of sarcasm even mildly implied.From the opening scene you are given warning that the camera work will be crappy, we open on a shaky close up of Josh as he attempts to win over the viewers by acting GOOFY! oh how care free this main protagonist is that he will act GOOFY! haha. This film could almost be a case study in just how BAD films can be (and for that matter just how FAR bad films can get in the festival circuit, I mean by comparison of most circuit crap this film probably did appear pretty awesome).I believe SXSW gave this film some minor award (oh south by southwest, why do you encourage them, its only cruel). But here is where I hand this film a compliment, it is the best of the mumblecore movement. Mind you all other mumblecore movies sucked beyond belief and generally included grotesque nudity and incomprehensibly bad acting, but still, its good to be the best of something.I haven't seen baghead yet, but it looks like maybe they have made a few strides forward, the preview at least made it appear tolerable, where as even the Puffy Chair preview couldn't really hide the fact that it was going to suck. I've gotten off topic here, anyways Rhett is most likely not portrayed by a professional actor at all, much like Josh most likely isn't an actual actor but rather the director (or brother of director, there's some mixed messages there). I think Rhett was somebodies buddy and they said hey why don't you play this guy named Rhett in the movie, the fact that Rhett is the name of the actor and character probably means the actor and character are the same, unless I am mistaken, which I am not.If Rhett shaved the raccoon off of his face you would probably say he was attractive. So anyways Rhett, Emily, and Josh team up to bring the Puffy Chair to Rhett and Josh's dad. Some stuff happens along the way, more bad acting, bad supporting actors, crappy camera work, an attempt at significance. This film wouldn't have been bad if it hadnt been so shamelessly pursuing profound self importance.The whole thing is amateurish, if you can view this movie without paying for it, like if its on TV or for rent at the library, then consider looking at it, just to see if you like this super cheap style of film-making. I like what the duplass' are doing the whole make a movie with nothing concept, but I wish they would make a movie that someone would want to see.--- I happened upon this movie again, and feeling that perhaps I had judged it too harshly initially I viewed it again. Its gotten enough decent reviews to where I have to at least consider I might have just been in a bad mood during my first viewing. For example, the first time I saw Napoleon Dynamite I thought it was horrendous, I saw it a couple of months later and I couldn't stop laughing.But this movie is just so weak, its horribly painful, just HORRIBLY painful to watch. The worst part of it all is that I think the people who made this movie know it sucks, but they just thought hey, we already made it might as well release it and see if someone doesn't hate it. I have to go back to my initial complaints, first off this movie is functioning at the highest level of unbelievability possible. So there is Josh, the main character, his girlfriend Emily, and the brother of Josh, named Rhett. Coincidentally the guy who plays Rhett is also named Rhett so could it be that he just sort of showed up, wandered into the frame and just didn't leave and was never aware of a film being made?The dialogue in this film is just painful, really painful. Who would talk the way these people talk. I wish I could give this film less than 1 star on my rating, I wish I could give it a zero, if only.

rddj05 For anyone who wasn't aware of the Mumblecore movement a few years back, it was basically a group of young, post-college, middle-class, white, awkward kids (nerds if you want to be mean about it), making films about their lives. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on who you ask), The Puffy Chair may have effectively killed the movement all together. What made other mumblecore film's like Bujalski's Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciate stand out was the strikingly honest (if somewhat mundane) behavior displayed by the characters in those films. Swanberg's LOL stood out simply because it had something to say (about our attachment and dependence on technology trumping a more genuine and connected form communication). These films were saying something even if it was simply, "we never see people that look and talk like us on screen." However, this film has none of those qualities. Think of the most annoying, boring, spoiled, whiny, in desperate need of psychotherapy, young couple you can think of, and then imagine having to spend an hour and a half with them. Nothing really happens in this film, and yet the few things that do happen are almost completely implausible. I can't quite remember a more unlikable pair in a film. You keep hoping this solipsistic couple will catch a few minutes of the evening news to realize there's a bigger world out there. For decades, numerous European filmmakers have made films without focusing on that pesky thing called plot, but they will at least usually give the viewer something to look at, or engaging characters to listen to. Don't look for either here. The biggest challenge with this film is having to endure the pointless, grating dialogue of this self- absorbed couple for 90 minutes. The shear honesty of the final scene is the only thing that merits giving it 2 stars as opposed to one. However, as I watched it, I couldn't help but wonder who on Earth would want to be with either of these two people?