The Duel - Gentlemen's Rules

I was lucky enough to attend the premier in Indy. Knowing little about the plot, I was surprised by how much humor and heart was in this dark comedy. Warburton is fantastic in everything, and he shines alongside the younger cast members. The leads bring a lot of gravity to some of the more surreal plot lines, and there's a lot of tongue in cheek moments that play well to anyone who lives in Indiana and knows the landmarks where this was filmed. I highly recommend this film to anyone who enjoys indie films. It's smart, fun and you leave it feeling like you've had a great time with your crazy friends.

I thought based on the trailer that this movie was going to be terrible. Like I actually watched it because I thought hey, this is gonna be a really terrible movie and sometimes that's what I want to see. But unfortunately (fortunately), I was actually surprised by how much I loved this. It's pretending to be a dumb stoner comedy, but it's actually smarter than most movies claiming to be smart, and funnier than most films claiming to be a comedy. The deeper themes shined through especially at the end, and I couldn't have enjoyed more how they stuck the landing. Despite the fun I had watching, I'm not giving it ten stars because this movie is objectively a 7/10, although the experience was, for a low budget dark comedy, exceptional.

There are several reasons that I thoroughly enjoyed The Duel.

The storyline is solid and thought provoking. The cast of characters delivered this humourous dark story cleverly and intensely.

The film is stocked with unanticipated comedic situations and dialogue.

I am drawn to stories where morality and personal principles are battling the need for exact retribution. Its very amusing.

Hats off to the Creators, Cast, Pigasus Pictures and their on set crew, the cinematographers, lighting, costumes, and post production.

After seeing The Duel in the city with my favorite people, I am looking forward to seeing it again & adding The Duel to our physical movie collection.

The Duel, starring Dylan Sprouse and Patrick Warburton, poses an interesting question, namely, can or should modern problems be solved with historic solutions. Specifically, was the antebellum tradition of dueling a bonafide, or even an honorable way for real men to settle serious personal disputes? While this may seem outrageous on its face to modern audiences, the film goes to great lengths to explain, after a fashion, the philosophical basis for a practice that presumably spanned many centuries. Of course, the idea that SoCal beach bums would readily adopt the Code Duello may strain the credulity of the viewer. Undoubtedly inspired, to some degree or another, by the success and notoriety of Hamilton on Broadway, The Duel posits an improbable question in a very engaging and watchable package. Patrick Warburton as the dueling expert is reason enough to watch this!

Reading twenty reviews or so, to see if this is worth watching or not, but I found them unhelpful. They all seem to be written by people close to the cast and/or crew. To give you an idea of what you're getting into, this movie is mostly dialog and little action. The storyline is about a guy who finds out his best friend has been sleeping with his girlfriend, thus taking him into a duel like it's the wild west!! It did not make sense even after I finished watching. You wonder why can't men resolve their differences in civil manner, or is that intentional propaganda? I'm all for independent filmmaking and do recognize the effort here. Budget-wise, it's a good production. Dialog is engaging, but it's nothing exceptional. I loved Patrick Warburton's performance. Would I recommend it to someone like me? Probably not. I'd skip it. But if you just wanted to pass time, it wouldn't be a total waste. There's great attempt from the filmmakers to make quality production here, from the writing, to the acting and cinematography. Therefore, I'm not giving it a rating lower than 5/10.