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Januray 29 2005
SUNDANCE: Is THE PUFFY CHAIR the surprise hit of the festival?
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here... This is the first I've heard of this film from Sundance this year, but it's definitely got my attention now. The below reviewer compares the film to SIDEWAYS, which I must say is the type of film that takes a strong and confident hand and a great cast to really pull off. I'm curious to hear more word on this film, but right out of the gate we have a glowing review! Enjoy!
The Puffy Chair may be the sleeper hit of this year's festival. Funny, insightful, and it moves fast.
You know, I've always had a theory about relationships -- If you can take a cross-country roadtrip with your boyfriend or girlfriend and not want to kill them by the end of the trip, you're probably a good couple. It's a good test.
Essentially, this is the story of "The Puffy Chair." It's a road-trip movie -- a guy and his girlfriend plan on traveling about 700 miles to pick up a large purple lazy-boy he bought off ebay and then plan on driving an additional 700 miles to give it to his dad as a birthday gift. Along the way, all sorts of funny and bad stuff happens that really tests their relationship. Very simple premise. But totally unexpected in terms of where it goes and what happens.
The movie really reminds me a lot of Sideways in terms of tone and humor. I mean, some of the stuff that happens in the story is absolutely, completely ridiculous ... and quite amazingly, at the same time, completely believable.
According to co-director team, Jay and Mark Duplass, a lot of dialogue is improvised, and I'd have to say the closest thing I've seen to this feature is something like "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (which I love). Except "The Puffy Chair" plays much, much more real than "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and it has a lot more heart and honest moments in it (while still mananging to be pretty damn funny).
If you get a chance to see this film, don't hesitate.
Pizza Delivery Boy #33