Themes: Golden Years, Unlikely Friendships, Journey of Self-Discovery
Main Cast: Philip Baker Hall, Bill Brochtrup, Amy Hill, Larry Cedar, French Stewart
Release Year: 2005
Country: US/
Run Time: 98 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
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, All Movie Guide
French Stewart - Jumper; Bill Cobbs - Norman; Noel Gugliemi - Lord of the Garbage; Starletta DuPois - Social Worker
Credit
Nicole Elespuru - Art Director, Bruce H. Newberg - Associate Producer, Bruce H. Newberg - Casting, Edward L. Plumb - Co-producer, Brian Tilley - Costume Designer, Brandan Garst - First Assistant Director, Nic Bettauer - Director, Marcus Taylor - Editor, Alan Ari Lazar - Composer (Music Score), Richard Haase - Production Designer, Anne Etheridge - Cinematographer, Domini Hofmann - Producer, Nic Bettauer - Producer, Joe Milner - Sound/Sound Designer, Brian Hawlk - Sound/Sound Designer, Nic Bettauer - Screenwriter, Studio Animal Services - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Sue Chipperton - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Shauna Aronson - Set Decorator, Domini Hofmann - Co-Executive Producer, David Byrne - Featured Music, Leonard Cohen - Featured Music, The Eels - Featured Music, MC Honky - Featured Music
Duck received generally mixed or negative reviews from critics. Gary Goldstein at reel.com rated it 1.5 stars, saying "Duck is a turkey" and "Bettauer's made a tedious, groan-worthy picture notable only for the bigger issues it attempts—and fails—to successfully explore than for any real entertainment value."[1]The New York Times said "it tries too hard" and "ducks aren't all that endearing".[2] Mark Feeney in the Boston Globe said that Bettauer "strikes a very uneasy balance" between playing for tears or laughs.[3]
