Duck (2005)

Director:

Nicole Bettauer

Writer:

Nicole Bettauer (writer)

Release Date:

4 February 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Think Outside The Flock

Plot:

In 2009, when Los Angeles' last city park is closed to the public, a dispossessed man -- and the duck who follows him as a mother -- quest west, on foot, in search of water and meaning, in the desert that is L.A.

Plot Keywords:

Los Angeles | Pond | Mother | Suicide | Bus Driver

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Buckley Sampson	...	Young Frances
Jim Thalman	...	Young Arthur
John Hawkes	...	Daniel at 18 (as Johnny Hawkes)
Carol Mansell	...	Frances Pratt
Philip Baker Hall	...	Arthur Pratt
Larry Cedar	...	Mr. Janney
Starletta DuPois	...	Social Worker
Noel Gugliemi	...	Lord of the Garbage
Gary Kasper	...	Machine Boss
William Rocha	...	City Worker #1
Gene Hong	...	City Worker #2
Ian Lockhart	...	City Worker #3
Lou DiMaggio	...	City Worker #4
Enrique Almeida	...	Fireman #1
Dan Campbell	...	Fireman #2

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language.

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

5 Aces Productions

Trivia:

Shot in 18 days.

Movie Connections:

References The Wise Little Hen (1934)

Soundtrack:

I Like Birds

Turkey

Painfully bad writing, not even rendered bearable by Philip Baker Hall and the delightful Amy Hill.

There's no consistency to the world or reality to the characters, who all exist as unmotivated puppets of the writer/director's trite imagination. Scenes begin randomly, go nowhere and end for no reason, other than convenience; any interesting proposition (a partnership, a duck at a 12-step meeting) is quickly quashed by denials trained out of a good writer in Improv 101.

The whole thing feels like a bad college play, in which street people are the wisest of us all. Feh. Rent "Harry & Tonto" instead.