Paddleton

I did not know what to think about about this moving when I first saw it on Netflix. It had Ray Romano so I thought it might be good and clicked on it. Wow, not a funny, chipper afternoon watch but I was hooked by the way it was filmed and how it flowed.

It did not over power the dialog with emotional music or scenery, it let you get there on your own and when the ending happened, you felt it. Both the sadness and the hope.

This film tells the story of two neighbours going on a road trip to get medication for assisted suicide.

Right from the first second the film begins, it is already right to the point. There is no messing about at all. The story is an emotional one, and it is well told. It is believable, engaging, and also leaves room for people to extrapolate as well. It takes viewers through an emotional journey.

I had the privilege of watching the world premiere at Sundance. It's a poignant story of friendship between two men who have chosen to live a simple, uncomplicated life. At first I felt sad for these characters, who seemed to be just existing. But as the story moved along, what at first seemed mundane became a sense of comfortable routine. When faced with a terminal diagnosis for Michael, the pair embarks on a stoic journey through his final chapter. Along the way they reveal parts of themselves that were previously muted. Watching them maneuver the stages of grief, while knowing what the final outcome will be is heart wrenching. By the final scenes I was openly sobbing. The performances by Mark Duplass and Ray Romano pulled out a whole gamut of emotions. I found myself at various times laughing out loud, occasionally slightly uncomfortable, unendingly empathetic, and often sad. This is why I love movies, especially ones as beautifully made as this.

The climactic scene in Paddleton would have to rank as one of the most incredible pieces of cinema I can remember. Ray Romano and Mark Duplass produce a moment that is virtually unmatched in its authenticity and honesty. I can barely believe what I just watched, it's a scene that will stay with me for a long time.

Prior to this, Paddleton moves along slowly and tentatively which is clearly by design. The improv style is a difficult beast to tame but Romano and Duplass do it with panache and no lack of humour. It's a definite change of pace to your average modern movie but it is well worth sticking it out.

A real sleeper of a film that brings the topics of life, death and friendship into startling focus.

Paddleton is a simple movie. The story is contained, the cinematography plain, and the premise unoriginal. This is all clearly by design. The two main characters, played by Mark Duplass and Ray Romano, are weird, awkward people and they are always presented as they are, ordinary. They live in small apartments one on top of the other. They are single and work simple jobs. They have terrible diets and watch terrible movies. And one of them happens to be very ill.

While it may seem like a criticism for me to call this movie plain and unoriginal, it really is not. Paddleton is not a canvas for some artsy filmmaker to paint with. It is not excessively dramatized or colorful or whimsical. It is what it is, an honest character study of two people. Often the silver screen is reserved for the interesting and the bold, the odd and sometimes depraved, people that seem to merit attention. These two characters are not like that. They are tiny, seemingly insignificant, and each actor melts into their respective personalities. The relationship between the two feels honest and they come across as true friends on the screen. Not to take anything away from Mark Duplass, but Ray Romano really steals most of the scenes they have together. He plays an aging, banal, and single man scarily well.

There are some things I did not like, the music was a bit twee and contained mostly ethereal melodies and simple keys that did not always fit the tone of the accompanying scene. Some of the dialogue felt stilted. But really everything besides the two performances is just window dressing. This is a film about their relationship and the circumstance they must face together. The low budget feel works to focus the viewers attention on these two people, it makes it feel real. We all have to face death in our lives, but we have each other to depend on.

Friendship is such a precious commodity that we often take for granted. It's the little things, like seeing each other on a commute to work, that become noticeable once gone. Paddleton pays homage to the beauty of ordinary life, and reminds us that this finite bit of time we have been given will eventually come to an end. It does not try to prescribe meaning it cannot possible know, it does not romanticize the process, it just is what it is, and in that way it becomes a worthwhile experience.