Review of The Puffy Chair (2006) by Ben F — 14 May 2011

What is reality? I tend to think of it as something that should not be portrayed exactly as is on. After all, why not go to the movies, if not to live a little in a poetic, even romantic fantasy, to escape from your life while studying it from a comfortable distance? Yet in spite of its handheld camera work, casual, off the cuff dialogue, and bitter honestly, "The Puffy Chair" won me over with its nimble humor and insight.

It's about Josh (Mark Duplass), a slacker who can't speak sincerely without pretentious obnoxiousness. It's alienating Emily, his girlfriend, but he's willing to try winning his affection over more fully by taking a road trip. But the journey is hardly the escape they hope for--instead, it pushes Josh over the edge until he becomes so rude and violent that in the end, he has done and said so many terrible things that he is redeemed by the fact that there are no wrongs left in his repertoire.

If this description inspires you to imagine a depressingly realistic film, let me reassure you that "The Puffy Chair" has moments of easy joy. Josh's scheme to stiff a hotel clerk on the bill provides an opportunity for some nasty but sparkling humor and the scene in which Josh conducts his brother's impromptu wedding is at once charmingly ridiculous and a lovely exploration of how marriage is conceived in the 21st Century.

Nevetheless, the heart of "The Puffy Chair" is still one of darkness. When the film finally reaches the end of its long emotional journey, Josh visits his Dad and for the first time, we get to here him talk honestly with someone, without hiding behind a mask of sarcasm and profanity. It reminds you how far Josh has to go before he becomes a man, and also of what he could be.

I don't know if I'll watch "The Puffy Chair" again. We're used to seeing horror in historical and fantasy films, but in the context of everyday confrontations and conversations, it's a lot more terrifying--seeing Josh threaten a quiet old workman is one of the hardest things to watch in the film. Yet it demands to be remembered.