Critical End!

Puffy, ain't it?

Thanks to movies like Reality Bites, I’ve become all too aware that life after college is no fun. This is a message that Hollywood has shoved in our face over and over again with nearly every film starring twenty somethings who can’t quite figure it all out. It’s old hat as far as plot goes: Life sucks. Work sucks. Love sucks. Then you turn thirty and wonder where you screwed up. I’ll admit that The Puffy Chair is that movie BUT instead of making the tired mistake of starting from here, it actually shows us how our characters get to that point…it’s also pretty darn funny.

The Puffy Chair mostly follows Josh and Emily and their turbulent relationship. From the get go, things are falling apart but Josh sees a quick fix in inviting Emily to go on a road trip from New York to Atlanta for his dad’s birthday. Along the way they pick up Josh’s brother, Rhett (a slightly burned out pseudo-hippie), meet a host of other odd characters, and deal with a rather large puffy chair. It’s all very funny and heartbreaking and at times a little too realistic, but these are characters that, although deeply flawed, you begin to like. It’s an investment that pays off as the movie comes to a close.

What makes this film even more fun is the fact that it’s the first from writing/directing brothers Jay and Mark Duplass. Granted, the dialogue can get slightly annoying at times (I haven’t heard this many “dudes” since BaseketBall) and there were times when the direction lacked focus (both literally and figuratively), but it’s obvious that this is really just two brothers having a good time with a camera. For the most part, I think you will too.

Rating:
7 out of 10