Paul Giametti and Andre Braugher in Duets
The story takes place in the world of high-stakes karaoke (where the high stakes are pretty low) and is packed with guilty-pleasure pop—and who knew Gwyneth Paltrow and Paul Giametti could sing? (Evidently he didn’t, as he revealed in a recent interview on Fresh Air, where I learned of the movie–which can be streamed on Netflix, by the way. And you can watch the trailer here.)
Duets is fresh and fun and wonderful, but my favorite part was the American imagery, as a collection of tormented characters drive from one karaoke contest to another across the states. This is not the old fashioned road-trip imagery of movies such as Thelma & Louise—there are no dusty motels with creaking screen doors or last-chance gas stations on desolate roads. Nope, this is the America of the modern traveling salesman (the job Giametti flees): bland chain hotels (where Giametti never manages to use the 800,000 frequent flier miles he accrued on his job), fluorescent-lit convenience stores, undistinguished stretches of highway, generic bars where local karaoke stars strut. This is Albuquerque, Kansas City, Houston, and, for the denouement, Omaha, Nebraska–though you would be hard-pressed to tell the cities apart.
In Duets, America plays as big a role as the characters that people the story—and it’s the same kind of lovable loser. It’s not America the beautiful, it’s America the banal. But tons of fun nonetheless.
This is now on my Netflix list.
Let me know what you think, Chris. I liked it so much, I might have to watch it again.
Could be a while, my Netflix list is really long. Netflix is my substitute for cable. Although if I had cable I could have watched that Travel Writer Confession show that everybody on WorldHum hated.
I watched this film years ago one somber afternoon in some motel on, of all things, a road trip and remember thinking that the film was as “banal” as the day. But in the end I came away liking it.
Now here I am discovering that I watched it so long ago I, apparently, didn’t know who Paul Giametti was and still didn’t put 2/2 together when I later saw his hugely famous pre-buddy’s-wedding-road-trip-to-the-wine-country-movie later. I enjoyed the singer/actor role reversal between Gwyneth and Huey. They also had a strange but remarkable chemistry, as I remember.
Gosh, I liked the movie from the very first scene.
Gwyneth and Huey were kind of a strange pair … I didn’t really buy them as father/daughter but suspended disbelief.
I really enjoyed this movie, especially the scene where Andre Braugher sings Freebird. His voice is unbelievably beautiful and it’s such a poignant moment. I love the message that people are often more complex than we give them credit for.
Good pick, Sophie.
Glad you agree, Gwen. And how about that scene when Giametti and Braugher sing the first time? So much fun.
This was so not on my list of must-sees — til now. Will report in after I watch it….