Duane Hopwood

For David Schwimmer making a name in feature films has, and will most likely continue to be a tall order, as it's tough to shed an image honed for over a decade. His first post- Friends feature is 2005's Duane Hopwood , a small film praised by critics that was only given a limited theatrical release.

Duane Hopwood is a man who once had it all, including a loving wife (Janeane Garofalo) and two daughters. Now that he's an alcoholic, all Duane has left is his cushy job as a pit boss at Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City. Now divorced, his downfall accelerates when he's stopped for drunk driving with his daughter in the car. A judge goes somewhat easy on Duane, only revoking his driver's license. He uses a bicycle to get to work until his friend and co-worker Anthony (Judah Friedlander) moves in with him and drives him to work. All that Duane wants is to spend time with his kids and get back with his wife, but numerous glasses of scotch and cans of beer always get in the way.

To say David Schwimmer has arrived as a serious actor is a major understatement. His portrayal of a man spiraling downward fast is more than Oscar worthy, as this character's problems only start with dependence. His is a straightforward, dramatic account, but Schwimmer levels things out by bringing a sly sense of humor to the proceedings when necessary. Simply, David Schwimmer blew me away in this film.

Duane Hopwood is tough at times to watch, as any man with children is bound to choke up watching the title character's hardships. Writer/director Matt Mulhern begins his film with a montage of Duane's good times, laughing with his wife and kids before making the pivotal decision of stopping at a bar one night—soon after, we have a front row seat to his demise. Mulhern's pacing is excellent; so much happens in the film that it's hard to believe the running time is a mere 80 minutes. Judah Friedlander, one of the great character actors, embodies Anthony, who gives Duane enough comedy in his life to keep him afloat. Dick Cavett also pops up as Duane's neighbor, and Janeane Garofalo gives her best performance in years as Duane's wife.

Ending a film like this can be difficult. Mulhern treads this carefully, and pulls off a satisfying and realistic conclusion. One comes away feeling truly sorry for this loving father who is crippled by addiction, as so many people are, and his resulting inability to make rational and intelligent decisions. Hopefully, more people will discover this film now that it's widely available, if only to find that David Schwimmer has the acting chops to potentially enjoy a lucrative movie career. Oh, and who is this Ross guy, anyway? I've already forgotten.

I went to rent a movie the other day and I saw this movie. At first this looked like a really ordinary movie but I had seen David Schwimmer in friends and I wanted to see him act in a different role. This movie was shown in the sun dance festival and I think David shcwimmer has done justice to his role. This movie is for any person who is alive today. This is about your daily life and how you go about it. Everyone has problems and every one tackles with them each day. Duane hopwood has done the same thing here. He has shown his life as it passes by each day. He has shown love for his family. I personally enjoyed this movie. This movie is at a higher level and by that I mean it has got lot of emotions in it and you need to look at each frame by frame to see what I am saying. If you have loved some one or if you are facing any problem in your life or if you think your life is not going where you wanted it to go then watch this movie and you will come to realize that it is not only you but there are a lot of people who have the same problem. This movie is anyones life. I highly recommend this film to all film watchers.

There is a certain freedom when you lose everything you ever cared about in life. It sounds insane, I know. But it simplifies the process of life. It means you can start from scratch... A clean slate if you will.

"Duane Hopwood" (David Schwimmer) first loses his sobriety, then his wife and two daughters, then his job, then his hope and comes dangerously close to losing his will to live. At the custody hearing, he tells the judge that he "needs a reason to stay".

The only thing Duane doesn't lose is the unconditional love of his daughters and the loyalty of a very quirky group of friends.

What is so skillful about this film is the way in which it balances our sympathy for Duane's tragic situation with our understanding that Duane is the cause of his own problems and the only one who can remedy them.

The pivot, around which the film's emotional power revolves, is the quite magnificent transformation of David Schwimmer from the almost unshakable familiarity of his role as Ross on NBC's 'Friends' to this ever so sad and bedraggled ex-husband and father who is desperate to stop the sand slipping through his fingers. This is absolutely a career transforming role that, surprisingly to me, certifies that he has a very promising film career as a dramatic actor in front of him. If enough people see this film, he will be reaping the rewards with great parts for years to come.

Janeane Garofalo also delivers in an atypical role. As Duane's estranged wife, she delicately balances the cold-hearted reality of wanting to move on with her life and the sympathetic understanding of someone who knows him better than anyone else. Her role could so easily have drifted into cynical and clichéd 'mean ex-wife' territory... but this film is too smart to go down that path.

There are some truly fine performances from the supporting cast members. Judah Friedlander & Susan Lynch are both very good as Duane's new support system. Friedlander plays Anthony, an aspiring comedian who becomes Duane's roommate. Lynch is Duane's first girlfriend since getting divorced. Each of them change the pace of the film nicely and add depth and nuance to an already powerful story.

I also want to point out the girls who play Duane's kids. So often I complain that bad performances from kids can ruin the believability of a film... However, Ramya Pratt & Rachel Covey are both splendid here.

This film feels like a cross between "The Family Man" and "Leaving Las Vegas"... an odd combination indeed. But it works on so many levels. I laughed during this film. I shed tears in the final act. I cared about each and every character. It is a tremendously well written screenplay, and it is acted with precision.

This is a small independent feature that really deserves a wide audience. Unfortunately, it will have trouble finding one because it doesn't have a huge publicity campaign behind it or 75 copies lining the shelves of DVD stores. I can only hope that word of mouth and positive reviews like mine will convince a few people to seek this film out. If they do, they will find a diamond in the rough and will be telling all their friends about it too.

Matt Mulhern is an actor turned writer/director in this amazingly fine first feature film. If DUANE HOPWOOD is any indication of the storehouse of creative and gently profound films housed in Mulhern's mind, we have a major artist being birthed.

Duane Hopwood (David Schwimmer) is a loser: despite the fact that he is one of the most loving beings around, he is plagued by the realities of life - working a testy night job as a pit boss in Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City, failing to be present for a wife and two girls he loves but neglects due to his working hours and that has resulted in divorce, alcoholism, and failure to repair - he just can't make his life work. After a DUI arrest in which Duane has inadvertently jeopardized the life of one of his passenger daughters, is ex-wife Linda (Janeane Garofalo) is driven to prevent visitation rights to a man she recognizes is in truth a loving father who simply can't cope. Duane lives alone until his casino friend Anthony (Judah Friedlander), a would be stand up comic, asks to share Duane's home. Duane's bad luck follows him even when he is trying to give despicable people a fair break at the casino and hence loses his job. He attempts to date a kind Irish bartender Gina (Susan Lynch) but fails that role when he confesses that he still loves his wife. The ultimate blow comes when Linda and her new boyfriend Bob (John Krasinski) decide to move to North Carolina, a fact that means Duane will rarely see his beloved daughters. And his life continues to pall-mall despite all the loving hands offered by the good people around him.

The story has no beginning and no end. It is a slice of life about an Everyman racked by bad decisions, good at heart but unable to control his propensities, and the effects of addiction, divorce, and loneliness on a kind but bumbling soul. David Schwimmer gives a deeply moving performance, one that is so sensitively rendered that it holds mirrors to us all, making us love him as much as the people around him who stand by helplessly by as he spirals down the hole of self-destructive behavior. Janeane Garofalo likewise steps out of her usual silly chubby mouthy roles and gives us an injured but wholly understandable bruised woman: her acting is the finest she has ever given us. The entire cast (with some surprise appearances by some fine actors) is top notch, but in the end the kudos go to Matt Mulhern for offering us one of the best examinations of divorce and modern marriage with an eye that clearly sees both sides of trauma. This is an underrated, superb film that deserves a wide audience. Grady Harp

Duane Hopwood is a film about ordinary people whose problems are no different than yours or mine. Hopwood is a man who loves his wife and wants to be a good father to his children, and is losing everything because of his penchant for hitting the bottle. Hopwood is not a mean or tragic drunk figure. He's simply a sad man whose days are sometimes joyful, oftentimes not. With his drunkenness Hopwood's wife Linda is not callous about it. She understands Duane has a problem. But, she can only put up with so much. And when he drives drunk with one of their daughters in the back seat, she goes to divorce court. What's done is done. Linda is finished with dealing with Duane's alcoholism; now it is about looking out for her (not their) kids' welfare.

David Schwimmer plays Duane Hopwood, and his performance surpasses everything he's ever done on Friends. Television shows are like that. When they become popular it is hard to separate the character from the actor. As Duane, Schwimmer has unfixed the stigma he got from being Ross all those years. He has friends in the film, but he's mostly by himself, trying to live his life in Atlantic City. During the wee hours of the morning he pedals his bicycle to his job so he can work a 3 to 12 shift as a pit boss at Caesars. Why the bicycle? The incident with his daughter in the back seat caused him to have his license revoked. Writer-director Matt Mulhernnails home the point of alcoholism. Those who are addicted to the bottle do not think they're alcoholics. "I drink too much sometimes, but Linda, come on, I'm not a drunk," Duane pleads with his ex-wife. Barflies may get drunk, but that's their thing. Duane endangered a daughter he loves, lost his family through divorce, and still cannot stop himself from going to a bar after getting off at noon. Duane can't control his drinking habits. He either drinks way too much or just too much. Sometimes he doesn't drink at all. Alcohol just wasn't becoming that day.

For all I have written about drinking and alcohol, one might think Duane Hopwood is a dreary movie. Well, it is dreary but not because of the subject matter. The grayness of Atlantic City during the winter gives off a ghost town vibe. It's the off-season for tourists, so the town lacks life. Taking away the obsessive drinking aspect, you are left with a guy who wakes up when many are asleep, trying to be professional working the late-night shift at a casino where customers are sparse, and hating that his one true love is now in love with somebody else.