{"id":4274,"date":"2016-07-01T10:23:25","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T04:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=4274"},"modified":"2026-07-17T21:00:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:30:25","slug":"paddleton-review-netflix-ray-romano-mark-duplass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=4274","title":{"rendered":"Paddleton is an Affecting Portrait of Loneliness in a Hyper-Isolated World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A<\/span><\/p><\/div>

few minutes into their six-hour road trip, Andy (a terrific Ray Romano), a middle-aged socially awkward curmudgeonly man makes an announcement. \u201cI had some oatmeal, so I\u2019m gonna need a bathroom in two hours,\u201d he tells Michael (an understated Mark Duplass), his neighbour and the trip\u2019s de-facto driver. \u201cBut you also had a second coffee, so maybe 90 minutes?\u201d, Michael notes. <\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s a banal exchange between two misfits who have \u2013 and seem to want \u2013 no one but each other and yet it is steeped in the kind of gentle intimacy that has come to define long-term lovers<\/a> or committed companions. On paper and according to the labels of social conduct, Andy and Michael, can\u2019t claim to be either \u2013 their bond is destined to be relegated to the one shared by friendly neighbours. But at the same time, the affectionate intimacies that mark their life together are impossible to achieve in any relationship that doesn\u2019t involve being each other\u2019s constants \u2013 a partner in every sense of the word. <\/span>\n\nMuch of Alex Lehman\u2019s deeply moving <\/span>Paddleton<\/span><\/i>, a dramedy about terminal illness, assisted suicide, and the grief<\/a> that accompanies letting go of that person who makes loneliness bearable, is built on such unassuming moments. Moments that challenge the common perception of what really constitutes love and who gets the luxury of being remembered as a couple. Moments that offer a peek at tender expressions of affection \u2013 like agreeing to take an impromptu detour to an Ostrich farm or insisting on paying for the pills that would end the other\u2019s life \u2013 that otherwise remain as footnotes in front of the grand gestures.<\/span>\n\n

What better balm can there be to loneliness than all-consuming companionship?<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nThe film itself foreshadows the tragedy the odd couple will find their lives enmeshed in, by opening with Michael\u2019s cancer diagnosis. As the nurse informs Michael about the inevitable, it\u2019s Andy who loses his cool, acting out and demanding detailed \u2013 and optimistic \u2013 answers, as if it were his days that are numbered. It prompts even the nurse to inquire about how they\u2019re related. Like he tells the nurse, \u201cthey\u2019re neighbours\u201d but what he fails to articulate \u2013 and what Lehman ably uses <\/span>Paddleton<\/span><\/i> to depict \u2013 is that their relationship is so much more. <\/span>\n\nEarly on in <\/span>Paddleto<\/span><\/i>n, it\u2019s made evident why Michael and Andy drift towards each other: They\u2019re both loners<\/a>, socially handicapped, and find comfort in routine domesticity. Their time together comprises innumerable pizza dinners, geeking out over a shared interest in a kung-fu film called <\/span>Death Punch<\/span><\/i>, and playing a totally made-up game of \u201cpaddleton\u201d with each other. Shattering their comfortable codependency is Michael\u2019s wish to end his life before cancer gets the best of him. He enlists Andy \u2013 the only person he confides in about his plan \u2013 to help him die after taking a set of prescribed pills. But that can only happen after the duo embark on a six-hour road trip to procure them and confront their vulnerabilities, regrets, and limited time with each other.<\/span>\n\n\"Paddleton\"\n

\n

Andy and Michael share the kind of connection that could command entire fandoms had it been between a man and a woman.<\/p>\n

Image credit: Netflix<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\nAndy and Michael share the kind of connection that could command entire fandoms had it been between a man and a woman \u2013 a point that Lehman drives home deftly. Through the film\u2019s taut 90 minutes, Lehman eschews dispensing one singular label that would unfairly shackle the length and breadth of Andy and Michael\u2019s all-consuming companionship: On more than one occasion, the viewer is left hanging on whether Michael and Andy are indeed lovers, whose feelings for each other might be thwarted by the expectations of masculine upbringing and their inability to express themselves. In doing so, Lehman succeeds in managing to distract the viewer from being exclusively preoccupied with the \u201cWill they, won’t they?\u201d conundrum and instead have them relish an affecting portrait of loneliness in a hyper-isolated world. <\/span>\n\nThat portrait of isolation hits its peak in a vulnerable climax that lasts for the film\u2019s penultimate 30 minutes when they finally express themselves to each other, against a racing clock: Andy finally reveals to Michael that he gifted him a sweatshirt with a puzzle that has no answer because he didn\u2019t want him to be upset like he usually is after they solve the crossword puzzle. If he never guessed the answer, he\u2019d never get upset, Andy reasons with Michael, reminding him about the consistency of his own emotions. <\/span>\n\nMost people look for a romantic partner to bear a witness to their lives \u2013 but Michael and Andy found each other to remind themselves that their lives are even worth witnessing. As <\/span>Paddleton<\/span><\/i> posits in the heart-wrenching final minutes, what better balm can there be to loneliness than all-consuming companionship<\/a>?<\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alex Lehman\u2019s deeply moving Paddleton, a dramedy about terminal illness and assisted suicide is built on unassuming moments. Moments that challenge the common perception of what really constitutes love and who gets the luxury of being remembered as a couple.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":4277,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[7697,1341,7698,7699],"class_list":["post-4274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-mark-duplass","tag-netflix","tag-paddleton-review-paddleton","tag-ray-romano"],"yoast_head":"\nPaddleton is an Affecting Portrait of Loneliness in a Hyper-Isolated World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Alex Lehman\u2019s deeply moving Paddleton, a dramedy about terminal illness and assisted suicide is built on unassuming moments. 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