Product Details

• Actors: Juliet Fischer, Mark Duplass, Kathryn Aselton, Rhett Wilkins, Bari Hyman
• Directors: Jay Duplass
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: September 29, 2009
• Run Time: 84 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002SAMMKQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,814 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

PUFFY CHAIR - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Do we deserve better?, January 31, 2007

By 

matthewslaughter "matthewslaughter" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews

The Duplass Brothers' "The Puffy Chair" requires some getting used to. The camerawork is amateur in quality, the acting seems mostly improvised and the story is simple.

It is about a man named Josh wants to purchase a La-Z-Boy recliner for his father as a birthday gift because it is similar to the one his father owned when he was a kid. After a small spat with his girlfriend Emily, he asks her to join him on a road trip to pick up the recliner. While initially planning to pay a short visit to his brother (Rhett), Rhett decides to tag along, adding to the tension between Josh and Emily.

After the expository information is out of the way, "The Puffy Chair," and the simplicity with which it is presented, becomes a thoroughly engrossing film. The recliner itself becomes something of an empty signifier (like the monolith in "2001" or the harmonium in "Punch-Drunk Love," objects that are filled the meaning(s) the viewer is willing to make out of it). To me, it represents (for Josh) a return to the simplicity of his youth, before a passion for music inevitably lead to being in a band that would break up, or before romance was doomed to the same fate. Throughout the film, the recliner makes Josh, a stable, likeable "dude" on the surface, feel elation, disappointment and anger. At times he is driven into a violent rage when the recliner is defaced, figuratively or literally.

Though some might find the subject matter or the approach tedious, the film's power comes from its minimal approach to filmmaking. Appearing more like a documentary than, say, a light version of Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes from a Marriage," the realism of this film, with its inattention to lighting, framing and sound, add to the tension it ultimately revels in. I definitely recommend this film to anyone interested in the storytelling ability that can be found in low-budget cinema.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Road Trip Like No Other, January 2, 2007

By 

Timothy Kearney (Haverhill, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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I sat down to watch THE PUFFY CHAIR, knowing it would be a road flick and expecting a comedy. The preview I read for it sounded like a comedy: A young man takes his high maintenance girlfriend and nature loving brother on a trip to deliver a birthday gift. Road trip plus odd ball characters in my mind usually equals comedy. Maybe it's because I had just seen LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE which uses a similar formula that I expected a few laughs. It's not a comedy, but I wasn't disappointed because it is compelling.

The film is the story of a road trip and like all road trip films, at least those that are good, self discovery happens along the way. The film was written and directed by brothers Mark and Jay Duplass and Mark stars in the film as Josh. We learn at the beginning that Josh dreams of a musical career but comes to the realization that while a career in music is not impossible, it is unlikely he will ever be a performer. His girlfriend Emily (Kathryn Aselton) doesn't understand his predicament. She has more pressing concerns on her mind: the future of their relationship. Josh explains that he needs to get away and is leaving to deliver his father's birthday gift: a replica of a Lazy-boy chair his father once owned. He searched E-bay and found an obscure furniture maker in North Carolina who has the item and plans on leaving the next day, alone. Reluctantly he agrees to take Emily and along the way the two visit his brother Rhett (Rhett Wilkins), an extreme New Ageish nature loving who decides to join them. Their experiences along the way make up the core of the film and saying much more would reveal the plot twists.

THE PUFFY CHAIR maintained my interest but when it was over, my initial reaction to the characters in the film was mixed at best. For one thing, I had a difficult time warming up to Josh and his travails. All I could think was that he was approaching thirty, grow up already. He was ill-tempered in a self absorbed way, dishonest, and rather stuck on himself. Yet Josh as a character maintained my interest which only happens with good writing and acting. Emily had my sympathy throughout the film. Of course other reviewers will probably have the opposite reaction to mine. I know a few people who saw it agreed with me and others vehemently disagreed. Again this only happens when a story is compelling. Rhett was a bit too much of a stereotype to me: Birkenstock and earth loving crunchy in an almost severe way, but he does add some interesting aspects to the film.

I was interested in the film and was drawn into its world which alone is makes it a good film but I'll have to admit, I really enjoyed the bonus feature of the DVD. The two brothers do a mock interview where they explain the concepts behind the film. While the finished product is not perfect, it is well done and a credit to the brothers who produced their first full length film. The project was a labor of love and my guess is that young film makers will find the two inspiring. My guess is that the Duplass brothers will make an impact on the film scene, most likely the independent film scene in the years to come.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Surprisingly Sweet, Observant, And Funny Sleeper--This "Puffy Chair" Rocks, February 11, 2007

By 

K. Harris "Film aficionado" (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
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I don't want to oversell the charms of "The Puffy Chair," which some might label amateurish due to its modest scope and limited budget, but I actually found this little relationship picture to be supremely well done. Made with heart, if not a lot of money, "The Puffy Chair" exemplifies what you can do with a solid, finely nuanced script. Simple, lovely, observant and sometimes hysterical--I identified, in a surprising way, with many of the elements of this film. This sleeper had me from the start and kept me enchanted throughout.

Written and directed by Mark and Jay Duplass (respectively), their first feature film also stars brother Mark as its central character Josh. Josh is on a quest to pick up a recliner that he purchased on Ebay. That's it, that's the whole plot. Along for the ride is his girlfriend Emily (Kathryn Aselton) with whom he shares a playful, but sometimes volatile, relationship. Having been together for some time, they are at that stage in their relationship where they feel the pressure of making real commitments. Picking up his brother Rhett (Rhett Wilkins) adds a dynamic to the trip that is unexpected. Rhett is a simple soul at peace with the world, which contrasts nicely with the overthinking Josh. Idealizing the chair as a memory and connection to the past, to simpler times, they then plan to take it to their parent's house as a gift. (They had a chair just like it growing up.)

Along the way, they share some good times and some misadventures--almost every one of which I identified with! One particularly amusing (but very real) bit involves Josh paying for a motel room as a single and then trying to get all three of them in. It is, at once, utterly preposterous and absolutely believable. Other tribulations include the chair being not quite what they had in mind and a whirlwind romance for Rhett. All of these small moments provide us with tremendous character insight--but more, within the film's trio of characters, they reveal aspects about one another that may change relationships forever. In slight, and refreshingly subtle ways, you see as perceptions are changed and small observances shift the character interactions.

All three of the leads lend great credibility to their roles. In an almost improvisational style, the cadence of real speech is perfect (at least this represents how people I know talk)! The relationships are believable, especially the central romance as well as the brotherly link. I admired how much this little film could accomplish and how astute its observations are about how people communicate. Of course, everyone learns a little something about themselves--and find out that it isn't a chair that connects them at all. I recommend this film, seriously, and hope it means as much to you as it did to me. KGHarris, 02/07.