Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Nepal protests
  • Nepal Protests Live
  • Vice-presidential elections
  • iPhone 17
  • IND vs PAK cricket
  • Israel-Hamas war
fp-logo
Paddleton movie review: Netflix's new bromantic film is wonderfully warm for those who find humour in the macabre
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Paddleton movie review: Netflix's new bromantic film is wonderfully warm for those who find humour in the macabre

Paddleton movie review: Netflix's new bromantic film is wonderfully warm for those who find humour in the macabre

Mihir Fadnavis • March 1, 2019, 11:10:11 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

Paddleton has all the trope trademarks of something issue-intense and yet is dramatically inert, the combination of which makes for unpredictable unfolding of moments.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
Paddleton movie review: Netflix's new bromantic film is wonderfully warm for those who find humour in the macabre

It is a despondent but undeniable reality that people in your neighborhood could be carrying a ticking time bomb inside their bodies, and you would have no idea of it. Their entire existence, at some point, would fade away, but do we ever reach a plane of detachment regarding these people, however friendly or unfriendly they were with you? To pretend that they did not matter is to lie to yourself. [caption id=“attachment_6176051” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] ![A still from Paddleton. YouTube](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/paddleton-825.jpg) A still from Paddleton. YouTube[/caption] Such is the delicate message of Paddleton, a wonderfully warm and bromantic new Netflix film, starring Ray Romano and mumblecore king Mark Duplass. Picked up directly from its Sundance premiere a moth ago, the appeal of the film is generally confined to those who could find humour and sensitivity in the macabre. Although that seems like a narrow tunneling of target audiences, in actuality the emotional resonance it generates is more ubiquitous than expected. The setup is simple. Mike (Duplass) and Andy (Romano) are buddies, and one of them gets diagnosed with cancer. They have no one else in the world, so the only way to deal with the incoming storm is to hang out with each other until the situation is resolved. The aforementioned resolution is not something you expect, and how they go about the patient’s decision is piercing filmmaking that commands enough non-manipulative sensitivity to stir up our emotions.     This is directed by Alex Lehmann, who has previous collaborated with Duplass in Blue Jay, another quietly effective mumblecore indie. This one too takes its time to build but deploys in the final 20 minutes an unexpected emotional bomb. The directional style demands from the viewer a certain degree of imagination, and a capacity for objectivity in our everyday life and the people that float like spectres around us. As Mike and Andy go about their journey, the story swings deftly between humour and lament, effortlessly tapping into raw emotions, mainly fuelled by the notion of how truly alone we are in this world, what lengths one could go to grant someone their final wish, and how vacant and inconsequential everything feels when the storm has passed. Duplass (who also co-wrote this) once again brings his offbeat brand of weary and low key intensity here. Romano, who is generally known for comedy, renders ironic dispassion which sort of remarks on the situation that his character finds himself in, as opposed to the character itself. Both roles are difficult to pull considering how we have seen a similar setup in other films which treat the cancer revelation as a plot vehicle. Both Romano and Duplass, however, manage to find new point of views, particularly on their reactions to certain situations. We do not learn much about their characters’ backstories to understand why they ended up the way they did but somehow, it hardly matters when what is happening in the present is so absorbing.     Lehmann and Duplass’ script has all the trope trademarks of something issue-intense and yet is dramatically inert, the combination of which makes for unpredictable unfolding of moments. At many points, you keep expecting the film to fizzle because of its utter unwillingness to create any loud ‘cinematic’ drama, but there is something weirdly effective about this artistic choice, which includes a moment when a medical store clerk who sells euthanasia tablets hangs out with our heroes for a beer and gets into an unintentional scuffle with Romano’s character. Eventually, the accumulated details of the film, especially the cameo splashes from the titular plot point (which is a game that the two friends in this story have made up) as well as a strangely hilarious moment the friends share in a pool with a motel owner, culminate in a distinctive sadness about one of our world’s worsening institutional tragedies — that despite being more connected to each other than ever before, we are far more isolated as individuals. Although everything in Paddleton is of Western variety, as an Indian, I was caught off guard by what the film made me realise — that even though death has come out of the closet in Indian social situations, it is still not openly experienced or discussed. Instead of escaping, allowing death to be strongly present deepens both the value of each moment of life and our inattention to them. To be deprived of feeling what we are entitled to feel is emotional jail, Luckily, we have cinema on Netflix to break out of it. Paddleton is now streaming on Netflix. Rating: ****

Tags
BuzzPatrol Movie review Buzz Patrol Netflix MovieReview Sundance Film Festival Sundance Sundance films Ray Romano NowStreaming Mark Duplass Sundance Film Festival 2019 Sundance 2019 Paddleton
End of Article
Written by Mihir Fadnavis
Email

Mihir Fadnavis is a film critic and certified movie geek who has consumed more movies than meals. He blogs at http://mihirfadnavis.blogspot.in. see more

Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Top Stories

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV