PADDLETON

US, 2019, 89 minutes, Colour.
Mark Duplass, Ray Romano.
Directed by Alex Lehmann.

Paddleton is a small budget film, produced by the Duplass brothers in connection with the director, Alex Lehmann, director of their Blue Jay.

It has a short running time and focuses on two central characters. There is Michael, played by Mark Duplass, a middle-aged man who has a terminal illness. There is also Andy, played by Ray Romano, an engagingly eccentric performance, Michael’s friend.

The title comes from the game that they play, a kind of handball, hitting a ball on the back wall of an old drive-in theatre, aiming to get the ball to land in a bin. We see them playing, a strong form of bonding. And, at the end, Andy returns to play by himself as well as explaining the game to some young observers.

The film has been praised for its dialogue and performances in presenting a solid portrait of male friendship, male bonding. (There are some insinuations about the relationship, especially by the proprietor hotel with a booking and she makes wrong assumptions.)

There is some detail in the portrait of the men, their past, some information about their jobs and their responses, the apartment block in which they live, neighbours, visits to bars, interactions with the locals. They spend a lot of time watching a martial arts television series.

However, the main interest is in Michael’s illness, travelling some distance to pick up tablets which he can use for killing himself. Andy accompanies him on the trip, staying at the hotel that was mentioned, becoming friendly with the proprietor, Michael using the swimming pool at the hotel. There are some disputes with the pharmacist about the tablets but they eventually get them.

The pathos of the film’s finale is in Michael finally making a decision, Andy mixing the tablets, Michael hesitating, then drinking the mixture, lying on the bed, Andy lying with him in companionship.

The film raises the serious issues of terminal illness and suicide – this time the ill person taking responsibility but a friend being an assistant. As with very serious moral issues, the dramatisation of the story brings home not only the principles that also the emotions, the nuances in the situation, a means to interpret the morality.

1. The title, the game that Michael and Andy played, the back of the old drive in? Indication of friendship? Andy playing there at the end after his experience and Michael’s death?

2. A piece of Americana, the town, the units for single men, the city, the bars, the workplaces? Travel, the countryside, the pharmacy? The hotel, the rooms, the pool? The musical score?

3. Their continually watching the martial arts program, their discussions about it?

4. A film about male friendship and bonding? The men of their age, sharing, support? The crisis? The effect?

5. Michael, his age, midlife, the tenor of his life, his work, the bonding with Andy as his friend? His health? Playing Paddleton? Outings, the bar, the drinking, the friends? Outlook on life? His illness? The doctors and advice? The medication? His driving to get the medication, the instructions? The ups and downs of his health? The hotel, the proprietor, her friendship? The pool and swimming? His decision, being ready? The preparation
of the tablets, Andy and his help, sitting with him, lying with him? His death?

6. Andy, eccentric, a loner, his work and the workplace, with Michael, playing the game, their discussions, the variety of moods, erratic, going out, the bars, the friends and drinking? The travel the driving? His caution? The wrong doctor at the pharmacy? His pledging himself to Michael? The decision, preparing the pills, sitting, lying, the death?

7. Andy, his grief, emotions, the aftermath? walking, going to the drive-in wall? The boys and Paddleton?

8. A film about friendship, ordinary but with depth?

9. An exploration of suicide and illness, assisted suicide, dramatic nuances in telling this story and interpreting principles and morals?