Duck (2005)

Director:

Nicole Bettauer

Writer:

Nicole Bettauer (writer)

Release Date:

4 February 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Think Outside The Flock

Plot:

In 2009, when Los Angeles' last city park is closed to the public, a dispossessed man -- and the duck who follows him as a mother -- quest west, on foot, in search of water and meaning, in the desert that is L.A.

Plot Keywords:

Los Angeles | Pond | Mother | Suicide | Bus Driver

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Buckley Sampson	...	Young Frances
Jim Thalman	...	Young Arthur
John Hawkes	...	Daniel at 18 (as Johnny Hawkes)
Carol Mansell	...	Frances Pratt
Philip Baker Hall	...	Arthur Pratt
Larry Cedar	...	Mr. Janney
Starletta DuPois	...	Social Worker
Noel Gugliemi	...	Lord of the Garbage
Gary Kasper	...	Machine Boss
William Rocha	...	City Worker #1
Gene Hong	...	City Worker #2
Ian Lockhart	...	City Worker #3
Lou DiMaggio	...	City Worker #4
Enrique Almeida	...	Fireman #1
Dan Campbell	...	Fireman #2

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

5 Aces Productions

Trivia:

Shot in 18 days.

Movie Connections:

References "The Simpsons" (1989)

Soundtrack:

Bang Them Bones

It was like a very liberal anvil was dropped on my head

I had very high hopes for this film, unfortunately it fell quite short. Not that this film was a complete waste of time, Phillip Baker Hall was great and the duck was cute. That's pretty much as much praise as I can give this film. The production design as well was very good and I'm willing to wager that they had to make the most out of a limited budget, kudos for that. I wish I could give it more but I can't. This film has no real plot to speak of and at times just seems to drag on and on. Especially the first half hour, where it's pounded into our heads that Arthur has bonded with the duck, we get it, move on. As far as I can figure, this film is a series of vignettes under the theme of mans inhumanity to man and aspires to be a "slice of life" film a la many films by Spike Lee. Now while I understand that this is a socially conscious film, it's message was not alluded to nor did it embrace the viewer to think, so much as it told the audience what to think. Completely didactic in it's message and heavy handed in it's execution, one can only attribute this to poor story telling.