Duane Hopwood

Duane Hopwood is a film about ordinary people whose problems are no different than yours or mine. Hopwood is a man who loves his wife and wants to be a good father to his children, and is losing everything because of his penchant for hitting the bottle. Hopwood is not a mean or tragic drunk figure. He's simply a sad man whose days are sometimes joyful, oftentimes not. With his drunkenness Hopwood's wife Linda is not callous about it. She understands Duane has a problem. But, she can only put up with so much. And when he drives drunk with one of their daughters in the back seat, she goes to divorce court. What's done is done. Linda is finished with dealing with Duane's alcoholism; now it is about looking out for her (not their) kids' welfare.

David Schwimmer plays Duane Hopwood, and his performance surpasses everything he's ever done on Friends. Television shows are like that. When they become popular it is hard to separate the character from the actor. As Duane, Schwimmer has unfixed the stigma he got from being Ross all those years. He has friends in the film, but he's mostly by himself, trying to live his life in Atlantic City. During the wee hours of the morning he pedals his bicycle to his job so he can work a 3 to 12 shift as a pit boss at Caesars. Why the bicycle? The incident with his daughter in the back seat caused him to have his license revoked. Writer-director Matt Mulhernnails home the point of alcoholism. Those who are addicted to the bottle do not think they're alcoholics. "I drink too much sometimes, but Linda, come on, I'm not a drunk," Duane pleads with his ex-wife. Barflies may get drunk, but that's their thing. Duane endangered a daughter he loves, lost his family through divorce, and still cannot stop himself from going to a bar after getting off at noon. Duane can't control his drinking habits. He either drinks way too much or just too much. Sometimes he doesn't drink at all. Alcohol just wasn't becoming that day.

For all I have written about drinking and alcohol, one might think Duane Hopwood is a dreary movie. Well, it is dreary but not because of the subject matter. The grayness of Atlantic City during the winter gives off a ghost town vibe. It's the off-season for tourists, so the town lacks life. Taking away the obsessive drinking aspect, you are left with a guy who wakes up when many are asleep, trying to be professional working the late-night shift at a casino where customers are sparse, and hating that his one true love is now in love with somebody else.

I loved this film -- it's very well done with a great performance from David Schwimmer. Schwimmer plays a casino pit boss who gradually goes down hill and hits bottom when he's caught driving drunk with his young daughter in the back seat. It's the wake-up call he needs, though,as ex-wife Janeane Garofalo threatens to take away his visitation rights to his two girls. Schwimmer gradually begins to get it together when he forms an unlikely friendship with Judah Friedlander, who as always is funny and brings some much-needed humor to the film. It's like a wonderful short story with a great cast of characters set in a unique place. I highly recommend it.

There is a certain freedom when you lose everything you ever cared about in life. It sounds insane, I know. But it simplifies the process of life. It means you can start from scratch... A clean slate if you will.

"Duane Hopwood" (David Schwimmer) first loses his sobriety, then his wife and two daughters, then his job, then his hope and comes dangerously close to losing his will to live. At the custody hearing, he tells the judge that he "needs a reason to stay".

The only thing Duane doesn't lose is the unconditional love of his daughters and the loyalty of a very quirky group of friends.

What is so skillful about this film is the way in which it balances our sympathy for Duane's tragic situation with our understanding that Duane is the cause of his own problems and the only one who can remedy them.

The pivot, around which the film's emotional power revolves, is the quite magnificent transformation of David Schwimmer from the almost unshakable familiarity of his role as Ross on NBC's 'Friends' to this ever so sad and bedraggled ex-husband and father who is desperate to stop the sand slipping through his fingers. This is absolutely a career transforming role that, surprisingly to me, certifies that he has a very promising film career as a dramatic actor in front of him. If enough people see this film, he will be reaping the rewards with great parts for years to come.

Janeane Garofalo also delivers in an atypical role. As Duane's estranged wife, she delicately balances the cold-hearted reality of wanting to move on with her life and the sympathetic understanding of someone who knows him better than anyone else. Her role could so easily have drifted into cynical and clichéd 'mean ex-wife' territory... but this film is too smart to go down that path.

There are some truly fine performances from the supporting cast members. Judah Friedlander & Susan Lynch are both very good as Duane's new support system. Friedlander plays Anthony, an aspiring comedian who becomes Duane's roommate. Lynch is Duane's first girlfriend since getting divorced. Each of them change the pace of the film nicely and add depth and nuance to an already powerful story.

I also want to point out the girls who play Duane's kids. So often I complain that bad performances from kids can ruin the believability of a film... However, Ramya Pratt & Rachel Covey are both splendid here.

This film feels like a cross between "The Family Man" and "Leaving Las Vegas"... an odd combination indeed. But it works on so many levels. I laughed during this film. I shed tears in the final act. I cared about each and every character. It is a tremendously well written screenplay, and it is acted with precision.

This is a small independent feature that really deserves a wide audience. Unfortunately, it will have trouble finding one because it doesn't have a huge publicity campaign behind it or 75 copies lining the shelves of DVD stores. I can only hope that word of mouth and positive reviews like mine will convince a few people to seek this film out. If they do, they will find a diamond in the rough and will be telling all their friends about it too.

For David Schwimmer making a name in feature films has, and will most likely continue to be a tall order, as it's tough to shed an image honed for over a decade. His first post- Friends feature is 2005's Duane Hopwood , a small film praised by critics that was only given a limited theatrical release.

Duane Hopwood is a man who once had it all, including a loving wife (Janeane Garofalo) and two daughters. Now that he's an alcoholic, all Duane has left is his cushy job as a pit boss at Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City. Now divorced, his downfall accelerates when he's stopped for drunk driving with his daughter in the car. A judge goes somewhat easy on Duane, only revoking his driver's license. He uses a bicycle to get to work until his friend and co-worker Anthony (Judah Friedlander) moves in with him and drives him to work. All that Duane wants is to spend time with his kids and get back with his wife, but numerous glasses of scotch and cans of beer always get in the way.

To say David Schwimmer has arrived as a serious actor is a major understatement. His portrayal of a man spiraling downward fast is more than Oscar worthy, as this character's problems only start with dependence. His is a straightforward, dramatic account, but Schwimmer levels things out by bringing a sly sense of humor to the proceedings when necessary. Simply, David Schwimmer blew me away in this film.

Duane Hopwood is tough at times to watch, as any man with children is bound to choke up watching the title character's hardships. Writer/director Matt Mulhern begins his film with a montage of Duane's good times, laughing with his wife and kids before making the pivotal decision of stopping at a bar one night—soon after, we have a front row seat to his demise. Mulhern's pacing is excellent; so much happens in the film that it's hard to believe the running time is a mere 80 minutes. Judah Friedlander, one of the great character actors, embodies Anthony, who gives Duane enough comedy in his life to keep him afloat. Dick Cavett also pops up as Duane's neighbor, and Janeane Garofalo gives her best performance in years as Duane's wife.

Ending a film like this can be difficult. Mulhern treads this carefully, and pulls off a satisfying and realistic conclusion. One comes away feeling truly sorry for this loving father who is crippled by addiction, as so many people are, and his resulting inability to make rational and intelligent decisions. Hopefully, more people will discover this film now that it's widely available, if only to find that David Schwimmer has the acting chops to potentially enjoy a lucrative movie career. Oh, and who is this Ross guy, anyway? I've already forgotten.

I saw this in Chicago when it played for a couple weeks. First of all - what happened to this film? Roger Ebert included it in his "Year End Best Of 2005 Movies" list. I guess the distributor - IFC Films - messed it up, because it was one of the best movies I saw all year! David Schwimmer was excellent, and the rest of the cast was too. The writer and director, Matt Mulhern, who is an actor too, has made a movie that will make you laugh and cry, about real people - people you know, people you live with, maybe even you yourself. There are parts of the main character, Duane Hopwood, I think we all can relate to, in the way he struggles to be a good person, but lets his demons get the better of him. And the movie does it without lecturing or preaching, but simply by letting the audience in and telling the story of an everyman who goes to work every day, hoping and praying that the people he loves will continue to love him back. I hope the movie comes out again - boy, does it deserve to be seen! absmith Chicago, Illinois