Mark Duplass Movies
- 2009
An ageing Seattle rocker takes a pair of teens on a camping trip in this warm-hearted coming of age story starring Mark Duplass and Academy Award-nominee Melissa Leo. Sam Bryant (Duplass) isn't exactly the kind of guy a parent would recruit to take their kids on a camping trip; he doesn't have a job, he's still searching for a record deal, and he was nearly homeless until he moved into his aunt's house in the suburbs. But perhaps a change of scenery will do Sam well, and when Oliver (Bret Loehr) and Jake (Carr Thompson) need an adult to supervise their camping trip, Sam reluctantly obliges. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Duplass, Melissa Leo, (more)
My Effortless Brilliance writer/director Lynn Shelton takes the topic of male bonding to new extremes with this comedy about two best friends who make an unusual pact that both may soon come to regret. Back in college, Andrew and Ben were inseparable. Years later, Andrew comes knocking on Ben's door and discovers that his former roommate is all grown up -- married and planning to have a baby. Meanwhile, Andrew never settled down at all, and has spent the past decade partying and traveling the world. Both men experience a mini existential crisis when they see what their own lives lack, and their dissatisfaction manifests itself in a strange way, when a drunken conversation about the upcoming amateur porn festival spirals into a contest of one-upmanship, with each guy daring the other to star together in a gay adult film. Two straight guys having sex together on film will surely be the hit of the festival -- and besides, it isn't a gay thing, just an artistic experiment! Strangely enough, even after sobering up the next day, neither Andrew nor Ben is willing to back down from their unique proposal. As the friends put their dignity, heterosexuality, and Ben's marriage in jeopardy to pursue their strange project, underlying issues about growing up, being friends, and the fear of a passionless life begin to creep into the picture. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, (more)
The Puffy Chair filmmaking duo Jay and Mark Duplass return to the realm of cinema with this tale of a man, a bag, and the strangeness that occurs when the two independently inconsequential factors come together. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Zissis, Ross Partridge, (more)
American independent filmmaker Joe Swanberg's 2007 feature Hannah Takes the Stairs concerns Hannah (Greta Gerwig), a recent college graduate who spends one long, unsatisfying summer in the Windy City attempting to achieve romantic fulfillment in a seemingly endless series of relationships. Drifting in and out of infatuation, but never quite reaching satisfaction, Hannah begins to pose an emotional threat to herself and those around her. The picture co-stars filmmakers Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha Ha) and Todd Rohal (The Guatemalan Handshake) as well as screenwriter Kent Osborne (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie). Gerwig co-authored the script with Osborne and Swanberg. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Gerwig, Kent Osborne, (more)
Dejected by his failure to achieve fame as a New York City indie-rocker and unable to figure out just when it was that his life took a sharp turn for the worse, a small-town boy who had once harbored big dreams for the future sets out on a cross-country adventure to give his father a birthday the old man will never forget in director Jay Duplass' nostalgic road trip comedy. Josh (Mark Duplass) may not have found the success he was hoping for in the big city, but he's determined not to go back home empty-handed. When an eBay browsing session leads Josh to a vintage Lazy Boy recliner just like the one that used to grace his childhood living room, the loving son opts to purchase the purple relic and deliver it to his father as a surprise birthday gift. Josh's simple plan is suddenly complicated by the appearance of his emotionally demanding girlfriend, Emily (Kathryn Aselton), and his granola-munching brother, Rhett (Rhett Wilkins) -- who both insist on joining him on his homeward-bound mission. While the hapless would-be rocker sets out with them on a mission to deliver a piece of his childhood to his father back home, he might also learn a thing or two about himself and his relationships in the process. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Duplass, Kathryn Aselton, (more)
