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Reviews Counted:17
Fresh:8
Rotten:9
Average Rating:5.2/10
Synopsis: Set in Los Angeles in the near distant future, DUCK is a somber comedy about a lost man (Philip Baker Hall) and the duck who latches onto him, both looking for direction after the last of the... [More]
Starring: Philip Baker Hall, Amy Hill, Larry Cedar, French Stewart
Director: Nic Bettauer
We weren't particularly affected by Arthur's encounters with various strangers along the way. We think we know why: For the most part, we found ourselves watching a grown actor pretend to have a special connection. With a duck.
Top CriticWriter-director Nic Bettauer can't decide whether to play Duck for tears or laughs.
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...a thoughtful look at who we might be and what we can be, with just a little tenderness that remains embedded in the heart for a long time after.
Hosts a promising premise and some pretty interesting dialogue in spurts. But as the tail waddles across Los Angeles the originally agile storytelling suffers some bumps.
A series of stagy vignettes that never builds to a point.
No review available.
Top CriticWhimsical, quirky, strangely endearing road movie - and certainly unique!
The movie is about as interesting as a duck would be as a pet.
Much of the journey becomes redundant, and the film likely would have been more effective as a 20-minute short.
Top CriticPossessed of one of the most hangdog faces in Hollywood, Hall meshes expertly with the movie's hopeful sadness. That we watch him toting a live duck around without once losing his dignity -- or breaking out in laughter -- has to count for something.
There isn't much to it, but this odd little road movie from writer-director Nic Bettauer does boast a sincere charm, and fine performances from its two leading actors.
Philip Baker Hall throws himself into the role ever so convincingly opposite his anthropomorphized companion in a manner reminiscent of Jimmy Stewart with his imaginary 6-foot tall rabbit in Harvey, and Tom Hanks with Wilson the volleyball in Cast Away.
Buried somewhere in this messy, strange and occasionally affecting film is an interesting idea -- perhaps even a good one. But what's on screen in DUCK also veers into territory that is precious and even boring.
There are precedents for this kind of old-coot-and-adorable-pet cinema, but the director, a USC film grad, demonstrates little in the way of keenness or even sentimentality.
The filmmaker is good with actors, and in Hall, she has a lead with such innate authority that you can’t take your eyes off him, even when he’s manhandling flapping waterfowl.
The strangest movie to reach theaters in many moons, at least the strangest since Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters.
Feature debut by scripter-helmer Nic Bettauer is a small, affecting road movie peopled with sharp vignettes.
Top Critic
July 21, 2008:
Senior citizen bonds with duck in unlikely-buddy drama. 
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