SYNOPSICS
Duck (2005) is a English movie. Nicole Bettauer has directed this movie. Philip Baker Hall,Ian G Lockhart,Buckley Sampson,Jim Thalman are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2005. Duck (2005) is considered one of the best Drama movie in India and around the world.
A blighted Los Angeles in 2009. Arthur is recently widowed, his savings wiped out by his wife's illness. Their only son is long dead. Alone, Arthur adopts and is adopted by a duckling he names Joe. Saved from suicide, Arthur's life becomes caring for Joe and keeping clean a pond on land near his son's memorial tree. Homelessness awaits Arthur, and although he experiences a great deal of unkindness - from a bus driver, motorists, and animal control officers - he also offers and finds kindness. The pond drained, Arthur and Joe head west on a picaresque journey. Is there room for angels in Los Angeles?
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Duck (2005) Reviews
Charming, subtle, engaging tale of what it means to be lost in modern life
Philip Baker Hall stars alongside a duck named Joe is this very cool, truly independent film about a man who has lost everything and given up hope, when he meets, and adopts a baby duck. Together they search Los Angeles for water and meaning. This is a small film, with a big heart. There are wonderful cameo appearances by Amy Hill, Bill Cobbs, French Stewart and more. Philip Baker Hall is fabulous. The duck is great too! It is a simple story and not for everyone, but well worth a viewing if you enjoy real independently made, thoughtful films. If you like The Straight Story, Hard Eight, Cassavetes films, etc. you will enjoy this one.
A Refreshing Change!!!
It is so refreshing to see something original and intelligent in this time of remake after remake. This story is wonderfully acted by Philip Baker Hall about an elderly man who has lost his wife and does not have anything more to live for. Arthur refuses to become a victim and saves the life of Joe the duck and Joe returns the favor. The powerful scene in the manicure shop is incredible! The writer has a wonderful way of putting powerful social issues in perspective while peppering it with humor. See this movie! For now you can see the trailer at www.DuckTheMovie.com
Either you'll love this film or hate, and that will depend on how misanthropic you are
As fairly clear from the reviews already written, either you'll love this film or hate, and that will depend on how misanthropic you are. Be warned, this is not a cute animal movie either. This is the story of a man who bounds with a duck, both of which have been discarded by society. Through their travels within the greater Los Angeles area, they experience for the most part the more negative aspects of humanity and finding redemption and purpose by saving and befriending his avian cohort. I liked the film overall, but I'm a pretty easy critic as long as the film succeeds in its primary function: to entertain. The story meandered a bit, but stayed interesting enough to keep me hooked. The relationship between the man and the duck seemed genuine to me. The social commentary in this film is tough and biting, and probably a little heavy-handed. As I said earlier, the commentary is the deciding factor on whether you'll like this film.
Brilliant Movie!
This writer/director is bound for glory. A beautiful movie full of emotion and ideas. Incredible performance by Hall. Gorgeous cinematography. DO NOT MISS THIS MOVIE!!!! The story sounds sentimental. It is not. This movie hooks you in in the first five minutes and keeps you involved throughout. Yes, it has a political point of view -- since when did that become a bad thing? It's about how homeless people, even just lonely people, are shunned. The hero is not self-pitying, nor sanctimonious. He is very human, that's all. It's not a movie about a man and a duck, it's about one creature deciding to live in order to keep another creature alive, a profound decision and yet the movie succeeds at the most concrete level too -- the level of detail.
Sweet, slow, messaged
This a sweet movie about an old man who has lost his son and wife. A duckling adopts him just as he is about to kill himself. He has absolutely no clue how to care for a duck, or what a duck is capable of, and it never occurs to him to read up or ask someone. Miraculously his duck survives merely on good intentions and a diet of popcorn (a reference to the old joke with the punchline "Yes, but this one is eating my popcorn.") The movie is a series of vignettes, unconnected, except that they each usually illustrate one of a few recurring themes. 1. There are two kinds of people, those who enjoy creating misery for others, and those who enjoy alleviating suffering and creating joy. The two types are very distinct, with little grey area between. Both create consequences that ripple out. Much of the humour comes from exaggeration -- the landlord from hell for example. He is even worse than your worst ever. 2. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to be helpful to other people. 3. Nostalgia. Thinking about the past hurts so much. 4. The blue meanies are destroying the planet and all that is beautiful with their pollution, garbage, shopping malls, pedestrian-hostile cities, and judging everything only in financial terms. Joe, the duck, played by many different ducks, is almost always on screen, and grabs your attention. He is not like a trained bear doing tricks. He just acts like a duck, and actors have to ad-lib to some extent around what he does. This makes for heightened realism, but also for some boring stretches. When I was about nine I pestered my Dad to let us have a duck, having seen them in National Geographic. He said resolutely no. This movie let me live out that old fantasy. Just in case you were worried, the duck doesn't die and neither does the man, and they don't do duck toilet humour, at least not what you would expect.