Duck (2005)
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50% of critics liked it
(18 reviews) -
47% of users liked it
(1,586 ratings)
An aging societal outcast and a motherless duck set out to find shelter and meaning in a future where people are separated by as many degrees as they are connected. The year is 2009, and the last public park in Los Angeles has been closed to the public. The city is a desert, and dispossessed widower… More An aging societal outcast and a motherless duck set out to find shelter and meaning in a future where people are separated by as many degrees as they are connected. The year is 2009, and the last public park in Los Angeles has been closed to the public. The city is a desert, and dispossessed widower Arthur Pratt (Philip Baker Hall) has outlived his usefulness. A retired history professor who spent all of his savings caring for his beloved late wife, Arthur sets out to the park where his son and dearly departed are buried to pay his final respects before ending his own life. Arthur's grim westward march hits an unexpected hitch, however, when an orphaned duckling that has recently cheated death adopts the homeless septuagenarian as a surrogate mother figure. Once again displaced when their park becomes a landfill and their pond is drained, the unlikely pair embarks on a Sisyphean journey to find shelter and meaning in a world where their lives seem to have little value. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Nicole Bettauer
- Written By
- Nic Bettauer
- Genres
- Drama, Art House & International, Comedy
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Mar 11, 2005 Wide
- Studio
- Right Brained Releasing
Critic Reviews
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Desson Thomson, Washington Post
We weren't particularly affected by Arthur's encounters with various strangers along the way. We think we know why: For the most part, we found ourselves watching a grown actor pretend to have a special connection. With a duck.
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Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
Writer-director Nic Bettauer can't decide whether to play Duck for tears or laughs.
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Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times
Much of the journey becomes redundant, and the film likely would have been more effective as a 20-minute short.
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Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
There isn't much to it, but this odd little road movie from writer-director Nic Bettauer does boast a sincere charm, and fine performances from its two leading actors.
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Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York
There are precedents for this kind of old-coot-and-adorable-pet cinema, but the director, a USC film grad, demonstrates little in the way of keenness or even sentimentality.
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Cast
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Philip Baker Hall
as Arthur Pratt
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Bill Brochtrup
as Leopold
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Amy Hill
as Pedicurist
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Larry Cedar
as Mr. Janney
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French Stewart
as Jumper
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Bill Cobbs
as Norman
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Noel Gugliemi
as Lord of the Garbage
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Starletta DuPois
as Social Worker
