With Cyrus being hailed as one of the better comedies to come out in 2010, I thought I'd check out what else the directors, the Duplass brothers, created before their success with this latest film. According to the IMDB, Cyrus is only the directors' third film and it's the first one to have a large-ish budget. Before that, the directors had made two "mumblecore" films called The Puffy Chair and Baghead, both of which were made on an incredibly-low budget and utilized a variety of minimalist techniques to enhance the film. "Mumblecore", for those unaware, is a new style of film that tends to focus on realistic characters, usually twentysomethings in college, that are placed in realistic situations with natural-sounding dialogue. In short, realism is very important to the "mumblecore" genre and it is, admittedly, an interesting style of filmmaking. For instance, things like texting and teenage slang are typically common in these types of films and are considered a major component of the realism. Regardless, this would be my first time watching a "mumblecore" film and, while it was creative, I'm not sure if I'd call The Puffy Chair a "good film".
The film follows the laid-back Josh, his brother, Rhett, and his girlfriend, Emily, as they drive cross-country to pick up Josh's father's birthday gift - a giant purple LazyBoy chair. Though the gift seems random, it's actually very sentimental as Josh's father used to own an identical chair when the family was much younger. As the group travels from New York to Virginia, Josh must come to terms with his crumbling relationship while surviving the bizarre events that take place along the way.
In terms of characterization and dialogue, the film's pretty snappy. Because of the focus on realism, the film's characters feel all the more human, relateable, and likable. Josh, Emily, and Rhett make for some goofy, albeit lovable, characters and it's easy to care for them because of how real and genuine they feel. The dialogue, as I said before, is also very realistic thanks to the slang, long pauses, and use of "filler" phrases such as "Um" or "Well, I dunno...". The dialogue furthers the authentic feeling of the film and its characters, making it truly feel like a film that's heavily based in reality. There's a specific sequence in the film that really showcases the realism that I'm talking about. Taking place in Rhett's apartment, we see the trio enjoying some fresh pizza while discussing Rhett's interest in nature and film. It's very minimalist and the scene is mostly comprised of "Yeah, man"s and repetitive dialogue. It feels very much like an actual conversation and, to me, is the best example of the film's realism.
That said, though, The Puffy Chair certinaly seems to break its focus on realism for the sake of dramatic tension. For example, there's a sequence where Rhett confesses to wanting to marry a girl that he's only known for less than 24 hours. He isn't kidding either - he's completely serious. You'll hear stories like these on rare occasions, but it's far from something common in life. It's because of events like these that the film feels just as realisitc as it does unrealistic. It's as if the screenwriters realized that real life can't make a well-structured film and added some random events to kick some life into the film. The flip-flopping between randomness and realism makes the narrative feel indecisiive and confused.
The cinematography's decent for an independent film. While the camera is of a nice quality and the editing's fair, the lack of composition and structure really shows. The camera's all over the place and doesn't feel cinematic or contemplative at all. Frankly, it's only a step above home movies. There isn't too much to say - the visuals are decent but they could've been much, much better.
Overall, The Puffy Chair is only a decent film. While the characters are likable and the dialogue's realisitc, the rest of the film is pretty lacking.
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