For anyone who wasn't aware of the Mumblecore movement a few years back, it was basically a group of young, post-college, middle-class, white, awkward kids (nerds if you want to be mean about it),making films about their lives. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on who you ask),The Puffy Chair may have effectively killed the movement all together. What made other mumblecore film's like Bujalski's Funny Ha Ha and Mutual Appreciate stand out was the strikingly honest (if somewhat mundane) behavior displayed by the characters in those films. Swanberg's LOL stood out simply because it had something to say (about our attachment and dependence on technology trumping a more genuine and connected form communication). These films were saying something even if it was simply, "we never see people that look and talk like us on screen." However, this film has none of those qualities. Think of the most annoying, boring, spoiled, whiny, in desperate need of psychotherapy, young couple you can think of, and then imagine having to spend an hour and a half with them. Nothing really happens in this film, and yet the few things that do happen are almost completely implausible. I can't quite remember a more unlikable pair in a film. You keep hoping this solipsistic couple will catch a few minutes of the evening news to realize there's a bigger world out there. For decades, numerous European filmmakers have made films without focusing on that pesky thing called plot, but they will at least usually give the viewer something to look at, or engaging characters to listen to. Don't look for either here. The biggest challenge with this film is having to endure the pointless, grating dialogue of this self- absorbed couple for 90 minutes. The shear honesty of the final scene is the only thing that merits giving it 2 stars as opposed to one. However, as I watched it, I couldn't help but wonder who on Earth would want to be with either of these two people?

Josh (Mark Duplass) and Emily (Katie Aselton) are a NY couple with some unnamed problems. Josh finds a purple puffy chair reminding him of his father's chair and buys it for him. He has to drive cross country to pick it up and then deliver it to his father as a surprise gift. They stop along the way and invites his brother Rhett on the trip.

This is one of those Sundance Mumblecore indie. It's the Duplass brothers' first full length movie. The camera work is slightly better than amateur. The characters are a little frustrating. I can't figure them out. They're a little annoying. They do weird stuff that doesn't make sense. I wouldn't call this movie a comedy. It's kind of a dysfunctional relationship/road trip/family drama.

I had never heard of "The Puffy Chair" until it debuted here in Portland. It got a glowing review, so I decided to see how it was, and I got a real treat. The story of a young man, his girlfriend, and his brother driving down to Atlanta to deliver a chair to his father, the movie has a very un-Hollywood feel to it. We see how the trip exposes the flaws in the three individuals' relationships with each other, and similar things. The movie doesn't star anyone whom you'll recognize, but that adds to the feeling of realism conveyed here. All in all, I earnestly recommend this movie, so you should see it whenever it comes out in your city. Very good.