Paddleton, 2019.
Directed by Alex Lehmann.
Starring Ray Romano and Mark Duplass.
SYNOPSIS:
Two best friends tackle the news that one of them has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and begin to prepare for his death together.
Paddleton, the game from which the movie gets its title, is a game played by two neighbours, Andy and Michael. It’s a simple game that is effectively squash featuring a rustic old barrel, with the intention being to get the ball to land in it. We see the two characters playing paddleton for the first time after finding out that Michael, played by Mark Duplass, has terminal cancer, and that he has only a matter of months left to live.
Based on its central premise alone, you could be forgiven if you dismissed this as a mushy, overly sentimental bromance, yet Paddleton, the movie, and in many ways, the game, manages to become so much more than that. Not only is it consistently funny, even in the face of some increasingly dark situations, but it is also surprisingly tender and sweet. The script, penned by Duplass and Alex Lehmann perfectly captures the subtlety of friendship, noting the tiny gestures we make for one another to help each other through the day.
These moments are perhaps best captured when the two leads are simply being friends. Sure, there are big moments in the movie, but the ones that really stick are the ones where they are just sat together watching Kung-Fu movies or making pizza. Duplass paints an excellent picture of two friends who, through better or worse, genuinely love one another. When Michael tells Andy his intentions after a game of paddle, you can’t help but feel the genuine emotional torment that the character is going through.
Of course, none of this would work without the excellent performances from the two lead stars. Duplass himself is brilliant as Michael but it is Ray Romano who really excels here. Watching him try to come to terms with the fact that the only important person in his life is slipping away is painful to watch, and Romano’s pitch-perfect reactions really cement the movie’s emotional core.
The idea of men not being able to deal with their emotions is nothing new. What makes Paddleton so refreshing, however, is that Romano’s Andy is not hiding his emotions as a result of some sort of toxic masculinity, but rather because he simply doesn’t know how to deal with them himself. On several occasions throughout the movie, we see that both men are capable of being emotional with one another, but such is the mammoth nature of the situation they find themselves in, neither one can find a way through it.
While some of the movie’s scenes do border on being a little twee, the film manages to maintain a fairly consistent tone, right up to its ending, which is definitely one worth getting the tissues out for. The final scenes are delivered beautifully, staring death right in the face and taking it on honestly, bringing the film to its bittersweet and touching conclusion.
Paddleton is one of the finest movies distributed by Netflix for some time. A poignant, bittersweet and often hilarious love letter to the meaning of friendship featuring two outstanding central performances. Make sure you’ve stocked up on kleenex.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Liam Hoofe
