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?
Review of The Puffy Chair
