(Drama) David Schwimmer stars as Duane, a down-on-his-luck divorced father who works the night shift as a pit boss at Caesars Palace in Atlantic City. Heartsick about the demise of his marriage to Linda (Janeane Garofalo), he does nothing but work and drink. When his visitation rights are threatened after he's caught driving while intoxicated with his daughter in the backseat, Duane decides that the time has come to get his life back on track before he loses everything. DUANE HOPWOOD is a moving and humorous look at the limits of unconditional love, what defines a family, and how we're all responsible for our own happiness.
DVD Features: Audio Commentary Theatrical Trailer
Duane Hopwood finds David Schwimmer delivering one of the best performances of his career as an alcoholic, divorced dad whose luck is running out and whose compromised judgment is costing him access to his kids. Duane, a pit boss at an Atlantic City casino, jeopardizes visitation rights with his two daughters when he's caught driving drunk with one of the girls asleep in his car. That mistake sets into motion a number of others, pushing Duane into a corner of despair precisely when he needs to maintain stability to see his children. Writer-director Matt Mulhern, best known as a character actor, resists the temptation to turn his story into a cautionary nightmare about the evils of addiction. Subtle, low-key and frequently wry, Duane Hopwood is really a smart film about how hard yet inevitable it is for anyone to outgrow a broken life and allow the elements of a new one to form. Janeane Garofalo, somewhat unrecognizable under platinum-blonde hair, is very good as Duane's sympathetic but determined ex-wife, and Judah Friedlander slowly but surely grows on one as Anthony, a yammering, would-be comic whose loyalty to Duane really matters in the clutch. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Great Movie - And Great Soundtrax:
Just saw this movie on cable. I passed over it at my local DVD store and that was a mistake. Great performances! But this review is to praise the music in the film. Where's the soundtrax? Great music. I just downloaded 3 of the songs from the film online. I had to go to another site to see the name of the songs.
movie delivers truth:
Duane Hopwood is just your average Joe, hard worker, married, 2 kids everything you would want in life. Everything begins to unravel on Duane he starts drinking too much and letting his work affect his home life. Soon enough he's divorced and is losing his kids, with a touching and believable performance by David Schwimmer the movie delivers something a lot of movies don't and that's truth. Characters are a raw and compelling. Schwimmer gives a great performance. During the entire movie you want him to get... more info
Just Doesn't Work:
Expecting to completely enjoy this movie based on some nice things I had heard, I was stunned by my negative reaction. Wow! This movie wants you to care about alcoholic loser Duane and the serious problems that he faces one minute. The next, it wants you to laugh at weird and completely unrealistic characters and situations. Sometimes it tries for subtle realism, sometimes for the absurd. It just doesn't work. If you think child endangerment is funny, this might be the movie for you. But there was no payoff... more info
What indie American film should be about:
I caught this on The Movie Channel and was struck by the lack of fanfare preceding its appearance on cable. I did three minutes of research and found Roger Ebert named it to his "Best of 2005" list. Schwimmer gives a subtle performance that packs an emotional punch, and Garafalo never strikes a false note as the spouse who has to move on but still has compassion for the man who used to be her husband. What indie American film should be about - and a big boo to those responsible for not seeing this little... more info
