Paddleton

Maybe I'm getting old and soft, but there were tears. I've always liked Ray Romano. He played a character on the TV show "Parenthood" who had Aspergers ("Parenthood" was a fantastic show by the way). Ray's character, Andy, in "Paddleton" also seems to be a little on the spectrum. What's it all about? Well it's about two grown men, Andy and Michael who live in the same Californian apartment building who spend a lot of time together drinking beer, watching Kung Fu movies, and playing board games. They have made their own tennis game, "Paddleton" which they play against the back of an abandoned Drive-In movie screen. They aren't gay, they are just good friends who spend a lot of time together. Mark Duplass's character, Michael gets diagnosed with terminal cancer. They go on a road trip to get his die-with-dignity euthanasia suicide pills. Yes it sounds grim. It's also tender and slow, and at times, quite funny. I don't know if this will my top ten by the end of 2019 but I wanted to share it with you because it's a beautiful little film that will get lost and forgotten, like an old Kung Fu movie, unless somebody watches it. You might be a little sad when it's over.

Catch it on Netflix.