Hi everyone!
Garrett Wright returns today with a review for “Paddleton”, the third and final Netflix Original movie for the week. You’ll hear his thoughts in a bit, but be sure to check out Garrett’s other reviews here at One Movie Punch for “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse” (Episode #381), “Revenger” (Episode #386), “Vice” (Episode #388), “A Star is Born” (Episode #402), and “The Old Man and the Gun” (Episode #409).
Take it away, Garrett!
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My name is Garrett Wright and I co-host Two Views Movies podcast along with my friend Carson Graff. We are a spoiler-filled podcast by two guys who love watching movies almost as much as we love arguing about them. Our weekly podcast features reviews of new releases, retro reviews of older favorites, obscure top 5 lists, and our two views of all things movies. You can find our podcast on all major platforms and at TwoViewsMovies.com where you can also find spoiler-free written reviews of the movies we watch. I’m thrilled to be the guest for today’s episode. You can follow me on Twitter at @TwoViewsGarrett and the podcast on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at the username @TwoViewsMovies
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Today’s movie is “Paddleton” (2018), the Netflix original indie drama directed by Alexandre Lehmann and co-written by Lehmann and Mark Duplass. “Paddleton” is the story of an unlikely friendship between two misfit neighbors that becomes an unexpectedly emotional journey when the younger man is diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Spoilers are in remission for today’s episode so keep on listening...
Despite being a movie centered around two middle-aged best friends Michael (Mark Duplass) and Andy (Ray Romano), Paddleton takes its cues from tales of childhood friendships. While each of the guys has a natural maturity that comes with age, they are very much juveniles at heart. They routinely play “paddleton”, a game they created which uses rackets, a ball, an oil drum, and the back of a drive-in theater screen. Dinner is often a frozen pizza cooked in the oven at one of their apartments. And they enjoy watching the same cheesy kung fu movie over and over again. Though they may be closer to retirement than adolescence in age, their lifestyles are that of the stereotypical post-high school wanderer. What each has been unable to find in love or careers, they have found in their friendship with each other.
Director Alexandre Lehmann, along with star and co-writer Mark Duplass, devote the entirety of the film’s short 89-minute runtime to the quirky friendship between Michael and Andy. Michael’s terminal illness is introduced in the first scene eliminating any potential drag in the story that would be caused by making the audience wait for what we know is coming. Though the illness is central to the story and is omnipresent, in the early stages of the film, it is treated as more of a McGuffin to move our characters beyond their mundane routine — or as the parent of a teenager would say, “to get them out of the house.” As the film unfolds, their friendship both grows and strains. Michael’s stoic determination to control his own fate creates upheaval for Andy who struggles to support, but not lose, his friend. After lulling viewers with the back-and-forth between this eccentric pair for 80 minutes, Lehmann and Duplass bring everything rushing to the forefront — the illness, fate, mortality, and friendship — in a poignant moment that hits incredibly hard in all the right ways.
“Paddleton”is carried by Mark Duplass and Ray Romano. One or both of them is in every minute of the film and with only a few other characters getting a few minutes of screen time, the entire film rests on their shoulders. Both actors prove up to the task and feel equally at home in their chummy comedic moments as their heavily dramatic ones. Romano, in particular, seems to be enjoying a career revival as a dramatic actor (with some comedic undertones) as his performance as Andy is on par with his much-lauded performance in “The Big Sick”.
On the surface, “Paddleton” is a film we have seen before in some form. The childish adult friendship of “Step Brothers”. The strain put on that friendship by a medical illness in “50/50”. The indie-style offbeat duo in “Napoleon Dynamite”. Unlike these films though, “Paddleton” dares to go outside of its lane in order to take the story where it needs to go and the result is something brutally honest and bittersweet yet satisfying.
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% (Certified Fresh)
Metacritic: 70
One Movie Punch: 7.5/10
“Paddleton” was released via Netflix on February 22, 2019, is unrated, and is currently available to stream on Netflix.
Thanks for listening to my review here at One Movie Punch. If you like what you heard – or didn’t – reach out to me on Twitter at @TwoViewsGarrett and let me know. I’ll be back soon with more reviews on One Movie Punch, but you can always find me on the Two Views Movies podcast.
I will catch you next time.
