Official Synopsis:
A man and a duck search for the means to live, and some meaning in life, in Los Angeles 2009.  Written and directed by Nic Bettauer, DUCK stars Philip Baker Hall as a retired widower in a dystopian Los Angeles where social services have gone the way of social graces, and another Bush occupies the White House.  Forced from his home with only a duck named JOE to accompany him, Hall’s character ARTHUR embarks on a quest for purpose and community across the urban desert of Los Angeles.  Interacting with a host of strangers – some helpful, some harmful, some heroic – Arthur learns that saving the life of this duck may have led to the salvation of his own.  In a duck who believes him to be its mother, an old man discovers dignity and the will to live on…

Our Take:

Duck is an independent film that will make you wish you had just picked up a newspaper op-ed piece instead.  The film’s premise is simple: an elderly man, played with characteristic class by Philip Baker Hall, is evicted from his apartment along with his pet duck.  The man and his duck then wander around exploiting the horrid hard truths of life during the presidency of Jeb Bush in 2009 Los Angeles.  If this sounds like an interesting piece of filmmaking, it could have been.  Vittorio DeSica tackled familiar ground in his far more affecting Umberto D (1952) when he paired an elderly man with his beloved pet dog.  Then again, DeSica was a far more skilled director and had the ability to convey emotion through use of the mise-en-scène.  In Duck, however, writer/director Nic Bettauer relies solely on her script.  The characters speak as if reading off PowerPoint slides containing bullet point liberalism.  The “bad guys” get “evil conservative” slides to work with as well. 

The film succeeds in the quiet moments, though, as Philip Baker Hall and his aquatic feathered co-star have remarkable chemistry, far better chemistry in fact than that between any other members of the cast.  Hall perfectly captures the feeling of the love that even those in the most desperate situations can have for an animal.  If not for a shot or two of in your face PETA-styled moments of animal suffering, the pro-animal message in Duck would have been a subtle achievement thanks to the silent loving bond shared between Hall’s character and the duck.

Duck contains the following special features:

* Audio Commentary - By director Nic Bettauer and actor Philip Baker Hall.

* Interviews.

* Cast Bios.

* Desktop Download.

* Photo Gallery.

* Theatrical Trailer.

Duck is a charming independent film in that same way most films about the bond between a person and their pet is charming; if you have a pet you will be moved, if not, then probably not.      

Overall Picture:
Movie: C+

DVD:   B
 
- Matthew Orlando
Staff Writer