|
"Duck Season" is hit-and-miss |
|
|
|
Written by MICHAEL JAMES ALLEN
|
|
Friday, 24 March 2006 |
|
First, a disclaimer: “Duck Season,” the film directed by Fernando Eimbcke but being touted on the name of Alfonso Cuaron (of “Harry Potter” fame), is being horribly mis-sold. Do not be fooled by the trailers, which portray the film as a hilarious, off-beat comedy in the vein of a Wes Anderson film. Off-beat? Slightly. Hilarious? Not so much.
| | |
"Duck Season"
|
 Entertainment
Art
Directed by Fernando Eimbcke
Written by Fernando Eimbcke and Paula Markovitch
Starring Diego Catano, Daniel Miranda, and Enrique Arreola
Rated R for language and some drug content
Released March 24, 2006
|
| | |
Second, another disclaimer: “Duck Season” features one of the longest and slowest opening credit sequences I’ve ever seen. Even the tiniest of credits meander on and off a blank, black screen as some loud, Mexican rock song blares in the background. Normally, this type of detail is not really review worthy, but I think it is a good indication of the type of film that immediately follows.
The film tells a very simple story in which two friends, Flama (Daniel Miranda) and Moko (Diego Catano), spend a day alone, without parental supervision. Their dreams of drinking Coca-Cola and playing Halo all day are shattered, however, when a power outage leaves the TV screen blank and the two boys with nothing to do. Gradually, a slightly-older female neighbor (Danny Perea) and a pizza delivery man (Enrique Arreola) are thrown into the mix, and this group spends the rest of the film trying to find something to entertain themselves with. They end up succeeding but, unfortunately, entertaining themselves and entertaining the audience are not quite the same things.
“Duck Season” is one of those movies that tries to thrive on the minutiae of real-life: These are supposed to be real kids doing what real kids might do and saying what real kids might say. The problem is that that the two leads are not particularly interesting or charming (the characters, not the actors), which makes the whole thing feel less like a film and more like a babysitting gig. The film also has tone problems—it’s never quite sure how funny and bizarre it wants to be.
Still, there are things to like: The pizza delivery man pretty much steals the show, and while a dream sequence involving him sitting naked in a duck pond comes out of nowhere, it’s also one of the most visually exciting things in the movie.
In the end, “Duck Season” falls under that ever-growing category of “decent movies I’ll probably never watch again.” It’s well-made and well-executed, but still manages to be a bit of a chore to sit through.
Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |
