How far to go to get away from yourself is a tough note to hit right.
Let’s say everyone knows you as “Ross,” because your famous face is in syndication a few times a day and your former TV show was a hit for 10 years running.
Should David Schwimmer try on a role as a relentless psychopathic killer to make people forget about the kind, hapless Ross?
Or should he just take one small step to the side, and open up a whole new Ross by letting people see a part of that familiar character that lurked just underneath the surface?
The remarkably accomplished indie movie “Duane Hopwood” wisely takes the second path. It asks us to see David Schwimmer as a good actor who sometimes plays a nice guy named Ross, and other times plays a nice guy with worse judgment and terrible luck.
The difference lets us enjoy Schwimmer’s performance, and writer-director Matt Mulhern’s low-key script, without constantly thinking, “Ross would never do that,” or “He’s sure trying to make us forget Ross.” Schwimmer seems to recognize there are some actors we like in large part because they act a lot like themselves.
As Duane Hopwood, Schwimmer plays a reluctant casino pit boss working the graveyard shift. He’s reluctant about everything in his life – reluctant about life in the blustery winter of Atlantic City, reluctant to give up a safe but mind-numbing job, reluctant to admit he has drinking problems and family battles.
With just a few shots that take advantage of a low-budget movie’s lack of extras or sets, Mulhern establishes Duane as the loneliest man on the planet. Duane bicycles stiffly along the boardwalk, slowed by Jersey Shore winds and heavy winter clothing; he’s out and about when no one else is, the curse of the overnight work life. Every other house looks abandoned, waiting for summer guests and the taffy-pulling crowd to bring joy back to the city.
Duane’s wife, played with equal sharpness and restraint by Janeane Garofalo, is already halfway out the door. Their two young girls love Daddy, but they don’t get to see him much, as he leaves for work when they’re coming home from school. Duane fills his hours with shots and beer, undeterred by the thousands of bad examples he sees walking through the casino doors every night.
Duane’s decline seems relatively harmless until a shocking police stop that Mulhern sets up for maximum effect. I hesitate to reveal it, except that it is so key to the movie’s accurate tone.
A police officer Duane knew in high school is ready to send drunken Duane home with no more than a warning, until he looks in the back seat of Duane’s car and finds his sleeping daughter. Suddenly Duane’s stumbling around the car isn’t remotely amusing, and we’re angry at ourselves for every time we’ve overlooked the serious problems of our friends.
Mulhern populates Duane’s life with intriguing characters without trying to use clichéd eccentrics to make his life seem more interesting than it is. Judah Friedlander plays a casino peon who dreams of becoming a stand-up comic. He’s a motormouth, and extremely irritating, and Duane nearly kicks him out of his life altogether.
Dick Cavett makes an extended cameo that turns into far more than a celebrity stunt. He plays one of a gay couple next door to Duane who try to take him in as a wayward son. Cavett’s natural warmth and distraction turn “Fred and Wally” into a gracefully aging set of potential mentors, without going deep into the maudlin.
And credit should rest with Schwimmer, for choosing a role that can extend his range without tearing a hamstring. Duane Hopwood won’t make you say, “Who’s Ross?” But it might make you think, “Hmm. That Ross guy. More to him than I thought.”
Staff writer Michael Booth can be reached at 303-820-1686 or mbooth@denverpost.com.
*** | “Duane Hopwood”
R for mature subject matter and language|1 hour, 23 minutes|WRY DRAMA|Written and directed by Matt Mulhern; starring David Schwimmer, Janeane Garofalo, Judah Friedlander, Susan Lynch and Dick Cavett|Opens today at Starz FilmCenter.
