听 The Puffy Chair is very much a Duplass family affair: Jay wrote, shot and directed the film, and his younger sibling Mark co-scripted, produced and starred - even their parents make an appearance. Made on a miniscule budget, it's a slight, yet amusing account of a cross-country drive undertaken by a trio of slackers - failed musician Josh (Mark Duplass), his girlfriend Emily (Kathryn Aselton), and his New Age brother Rhett (Rhett Wilkins).
The ostensible reason for the journey at the heart of The Puffy Chair is that New York City-based Josh wants to deliver a purple 'Lay-Z-Boy' recliner, which he has bought on eBay, to his father in Atlanta as a surprise birthday gift. When Josh claps eyes on the piece of furniture in question, its state of neglect seems to reflect his own unfulfilled life.
What follows might not glue you to your seats, but serves as a good lesson in adolescent mindsets that are unable to face up to adult responsibilities. The passive-aggressive Josh, who claims that, "I am the essence of a dude", shies away from genuine emotional commitment to his partner Emily. Meanwhile, Rhett gets together with a woman he meets in a cinema, declares his undying love, and breaks up 12 hours later, on the grounds that "it wasn't meant to be."
"SOME CHERISHABLE COMIC MOMENTS"
There are some cherishable comic moments, including the efforts of the trio to avoid full payment for one night's stay at a cheap motel, yet whereas recent American independents such as Half Nelson and Old Joy skilfully blended the personal and the political, Puffy Chair remains disappointingly parochial in its focus.
Puffy Chair is released on Friday 27th April 2007.
