• Home
  • Meetings
  • Events
  • Blog
  • E-Board
  • Around Boston
  • Join
Northeastern University's Film Enthusiasts Club
.

Mitch Macro’s Netflix Pick-of-the-Week: The Do-Deca-Pentathalon

5/22/2014

0 Comments

 
I return once more to a film by two of my favorite filmmakers: the Duplass brothers. And yet again, they deliver a funny, touching film that focuses on two estranged brothers. Jeremy (Mark Kelley) and Mark (Steve Zissis) haven’t talked much in 20 years since their homemade Olympics, a 25-event competition called the Do-Deca-Pentathalon, ended in controversy. With Mark’s birthday and a celebration scheduled at their mother’s house coming up, both Mark and Jeremy question how to handle the situation. Mark and his family—wife Stephanie (Jennifer Lafleur) and son Hunter (Reid Williams)—are fearful that Jeremy will arrive and bring out their old tension, so they don’t want to go. Jeremy, a single poker player, sits in a strip club wondering if he should feel bad about not being invited. Both men decide to show up. Mark, Stephanie and Hunter hope for a fun family weekend and go to run the annual 5Kroad race. Right after the race begins, Jeremy speeds up in his car, jumps out, and runs to catch up to his brother, who he then antagonizes to race him. Thus the competition begins anew.

First and foremost, watching a sibling rivalry escalate to this level of competition is hilarious. Even during the first of 25 events, the two brothers shove each other and dive across the finish line. The tension then heightens when Stephanie wants to end the event because of Mark’s health problems. Throughout the competition, the two men have to lie to their family and others to keep the competition going. When they arrive at their second event—laser tag—before it opens, they try to get in by telling the kid working there that Hunter, Mark’s son, has cancer. Watching two out of shape, middle-aged men struggle through the events is good for several laughs. The way the Duplass brothers are able to capture the tension of brotherhood is both heart warming and touching. It beautifully balances the hate and love so essential to that relationship.
Picture
This film, similar to Jeff, Who Lives at Home, is shot beautifully. Its simplicity really shines. The locations boil down to just their mother’s house, a YMCA, and a school, and there’s really only five characters in the entire film. With minimal characters and setting, the film is able to focus on the core relationships. The script is sometimes painfully real, too. There are moments when the one character is able to strikingly convey some flaw in another character, and it’s great to see how the events unfold between the two brothers. During one particularly beautiful moment, Jeremy talks to his mom about the competition and acknowledges that he and Mark don’t talk, they just “beat the shit out of each other.” They are able to use fighting and competition as a way to convey that they still care about one another. 

At one point in the film, the whole family goes to play laser tag at 9 am. When Mark and Jeremy find out the place doesn’t open until 11, they try telling the kid inside that Hunter has cancer so that they can get in to play. It’s times like these that, while hilarious, the film can seem to get a little too ridiculous. Despite that, I think it was still able to remain focused on the brotherly relationship and present it in a realistic way. It’s interesting the way brothers are able to not just fluctuate between love and hate, but to actually do both at the same time. As brothers themselves, I think Mark and Jay Duplass are able to deconstruct the relationship in an interesting way.

Grade: B+

Runtime: 76 minutes

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    AJ Martin
    Andy Robinson
    Anime
    Anthony Formicola
    Anu Gulati
    Arjun Agarwal
    Arzu Martinez
    Ben Garbow
    Brandon Isaacson
    Brian Hamilton
    Carter Sigl
    Dan Simeone
    Discussion
    Elizabeth Johnson Wilson
    Eliza Rosenberry
    Emily Fisler
    Erick Sanchez
    Eric Tatar
    Essays
    Festivals
    Gabrielle Ulubay
    Haley Emerson
    Here's Some Movies
    Ian Wolff
    IFF Boston
    IFFBoston 2015
    Interviews
    Isaac Feldberg
    Kunal Asarsa
    Library
    Lists
    Marguerite Darcy
    Marissa Marchese
    Mary Tobin
    Meghan Murphy
    Mike Muse
    Mitch Macro
    Neel Shah
    Netflix Instant Watch
    Parth Parekh
    Patrick Roos
    Profiles
    Reviews
    Short Films
    Television
    This Week In Movies
    Tyler Rosini

    Want to Write for Us?

    Contact NUFEC President Ian Wolff at nufecblog@gmail.com if you're interested in writing for this blog!

    Archives

    April 2022
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2019
    September 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.