The Boy with the Thorn in His Side (Chuck & Buck (DVD))

Member Name: Jake Speed

Product:	Chuck & Buck (DVD)
Date:	24/09/09 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Offbeat, interesting

Disadvantages: Not everybody's cup of tea

Chuck and Buck is a dark comic indie drama from 2000 directed by Miguel Arteta. The film revolves around 27-year-old misfit Buck (Mike White), a simple and rather odd soul who still lives with his mother, sucks lollipops and plays with action figure toys. When his mother dies, Buck decides to invite his estranged childhood friend Chuck (Chris Weitz) to the funeral. The pair indulged in sexual fumblings as youngsters and the naive Buck seems to believe they can go back to this arrangement as if no time had passed at all since they were at school together. Chuck attends the funeral out of kindness but his presence merely serves to illustrate the gulf that has grown between them. He has a pretty fiancée called Carlyn (Beth Colt), drives a BMW and is now a big shot of sorts in the record industry while Buck has not moved on at all and seems permanently rooted in adolescence. Chuck has suppressed the childhood memories they share and has no wish to remember them or to spend much time at all with the adult Buck, who he finds deeply embarrassing company now. Buck is not about to give up so easily though and moves to Los Angeles to be close to Chuck, writing an amateur play about them called "Hank and Frank" which he plans to put on in a small theatre near Chuck's swanky office.

An odd film but a strangely compelling one, Chuck and Buck is difficult to categorize but can loosely be described as a very offbeat black comedy. It was shot on digital video which gives it a slightly grainy and interesting fly-on-the-wall quality as we follow the oblivious and child-like Buck on his adventures in Los Angeles, encountering various characters in the world of small time DIY theatre and periodically gatecrashing the wealthy and socially connected world that Chuck has painstakingly built around himself. "I like your house," says Buck to Chuck. "It's very... old person-y." Chuck and Buck also mines much of its morbid curiosity from the comedy of embarrassment. We feel great sympathy for Chuck when Buck suddenly turns up at his house or office and wince at the difficult social situations he finds himself in, frequently attempting to get rid of Buck without hurting his feelings or making a scene. Chuck is soon mortified by Buck's mere presence but feels compelled to show some kindness, this gradually sliding from a polite indifference into a deep desire to get this oddball from the dim and distant past out of his life forever.

The film has an interesting subtext - beyond the cringe-worthy and uncomfortable comic vignettes of Buck turning up to see Chuck somewhere and not realising how strange or awkward his presence is - to do with perceptions of one's self. Chuck represents the way we would like to feel or be perceived; successful, in control of his life, looking forward to the future with clarity. Buck meanwhile symbolises the slightly bewildered by the world, slightly aimless, slightly vulnerable condition that we suspect or fear we might be closer to in reality. Chris Weitz is a little wooden as Chuck (apparently he wasn't a professional actor but a producer) although he's relatively convincing as a decent man who has done well for himself and then has his patience tested to its limits by an unwelcome blast from the past. The physical contrast between the dark and conventionally handsome and smart suited Chuck and the geeky Buck also adds to the undercurrent of subdued humour running through the film.

Mike White, who also wrote the film, gives a suitably strange performance as the child-like Buck, with a slightly whiny voice and a clear lack of self-awareness. It helps that Buck is an ambiguous character in terms of our attitude towards him. He's an innocent of sorts, dysfunctional but largely unaware of this fact. Creepy at times and annoying but we always feel an element of sympathy for him. Buck's arrested development allows the film to poke fun at the pretensions of the adult world when he enters the carefully crafted upscale environment of Chuck's plush house and fancy city offices. The film is slightly ambiguous as to whether Buck is gay or asexual. He's like Gatsby in a way I suppose in that time has made a small window in his life perfect in his imagination. Buck does have a bittersweet arc of sorts which is gently touching before the film is out.

The poignant theme of passing time leading nowhere is well used here with Buck still in many ways the 12-year-old boy who Chuck knew fleetingly in a half-remembered portion of childhood. Buck is adrift in the adult world and sees it in simplistic terms, unaware of the embarrassment and grief he is quietly bringing to Chuck's life. "What do you do in LA Buck?" a guest at one of Chuck's glitzy parties asks him. "Um, nothing," replies Buck, slightly confused by the question. There is a Chance/Forrest Gump quality to Buck with people interpreting him in their own way but a darker core to the character obviously as he is essentially a stalker of sorts. Buck's inheritance of some money from the death of his mother gives him the freedom to engage all of his energies into staying close to Chuck and paying to have his scribbled play about them put on, a play Buck believes will win Chuck over - if he can only persuade him to see it. "It's like a homoerotic misogynistic love story," says Beverly (Lupe Ontiveros), the theatre manager hired to direct this eccentric play, imbuing hidden depths to the piece that Chuck is oblivious to.

The film has a languid pace and sometimes seems to be meandering in no particular direction but I think this serves the small scale indie spirit of the film nicely and stops it ever becoming too conventional or melodramatic. This is one of those films where you either fall for the slightly weird and deliberate atmosphere and become interested in the characters or you don't. At 97 minutes though the film is never in any real danger of outstaying its welcome too far and sticks in the memory for a while after you've seen it. Although Chuck and Buck is a mildly compelling film with a nice offbeat quality, if I had a criticism it would be to say I wasn't terribly convinced by the ending which seemed just a little contrived and unbelievable. The final moments are fine and interesting but at least one twist seemed just a tad too neat as a story device.

It's not a major quibble though for an absorbing and very watchable little film with some interesting ruminations on obsession, childhood and the passage of time and how it profoundly changes some people and leaves others more or less where they've always been.

Summary: The Odd Couple