Duets (2000)

As soon as I finished watching this film, I felt provoked to come onto IMDb and write my very first review because I was so compelled that nobody should ever have to endure such garbage in their short lives. I never ever want to sing Karaoke ever. Why? 1. Gwyneth Paltrow must have taken on the role just because Bruce Paltrow was directing...no other way would an A-lister sacrifice themselves to burn so badly. Or participate in a karaoke film without being able to sing. 2. The plot...couldn't find it! Just telling the story of random people with no significance or emotion. You know it's bad when they need to pull the 'guns and sex' action to get the viewers interested again. Only, you just don't get why they need to show sex or shoot in the first place. It just detracts from the easy style of the film. So wrong. 3. The singing. Enough said. 4. That overworked people with unloving families need to go away and get high...pierce their ears and enter karaoke competitions. Nu-uh. I really could go on forever...the only good thing about the film was that FINALLY after waiting and waiting for some sort of climax, the film ended. Without climax i might add. Watch this at your own risk to see how bad it is. Even popcorn, toffee apples, ice cream, cola and lollies won't distract you from the banality you face in Duets.

Fmovies: Yes I know, its a movie about the world of amateur singers and the disparate personalities that flock from around the country to win the big jackpot. If you are reading this then chances are that you have already seen the movie so there is no need to rehash it now. The one thing that I truly enjoyed, however, was the absolutely believable friendship that develops between the characters of Todd Woods and Reggie Kane. Sure, there are other good aspects of this movie, such as surprisingly good acting from Huey Lewis and a very low key, quirky representation of his daughter, played by Gwenneth Paltrow. This movie didn't enchant the critics upon its release...and judging by its box office performance, not much of the country either...but there is something very sublime about, not only the subject matter, but also the method in which this movies elements were pieced together...much like a dramatic jigsaw puzzle. What really made this movie special for me though was the ending. Reggie Kane's final performance and the aftermath...especially with regards to Todd's wife, almost made me weep. I found it very moving and genuine in its execution, and the low-key nature if the acting simply enhanced those qualities. So, to sum up: mediocre movie that has some really great nuances that combine to make a movie that, though slow and draggy at times, makes up for those lapses with the end results. P.S. as usual, Paul Giamatti is perfect! Everything that he gets involved with...with the possible exception of that "re-envisioned" Planet of the Apes...ALWAYS is made better by his presence!

DUETS takes an interesting and unusual cast of character actors, mixes them up and puts them in a film where groups of characters will all meet up by the end. Instead of it being a political rally like in the Robert Altman classic NASHVILLE, the gathering is a karaoke contest in Topeka, Kansas. It seems that director Bruce Paltrow in stepping into the shoes of Robert Altman, but his results aren't as satisfying. There are three different stories in DUETS, which switch back and forth between each other, instead of making them into segments. The first story is about a father-daughter relationship. Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis) is a con artist who cons suckers into making a bet on who can sing better at karaoke, and Ricky usually wins. Ricky finds out that his ex-wife, or ex-lover (the story doesn't really explain) has just passed away and he meets Liv (Gwyneth Paltrow) a young woman who happens to be his daughter. Ricky heads off to Topeka to compete in the karaoke contest, with Liv following him, against his wishes. It turns out that Liv is quite a singer herself, and impresses Ricky. The second story deals with a workaholic man name Todd (Paul Giamatti). Todd goes from city to city and staying in different hotels so often that he forgets what city he is in. When Todd is at home in surban California he decides to go for drive to get some cigarettes, and keeps on drivng, to Santa Fe. There he is persuaded by a pretty young woman to give karaoke a shot. He does and he loves it, he loves it so much that he changes his attitude, from stiff-shirted to free minded. Todd then picks up a hitchhiker, Reggie (Andre Braugher) a criminal on the run who winds up singing karaoke with Todd to hide from the authorities. The third story deals with a young aspiring cab company owner in Cleveland (Scott Speedman) who after catching his wife sleeping with his best friend, decides to drink his worries away. At one of the bars, he meets Suzi (Maria Bello) a young and pretty woman who wants to become a professional singer, and she'll do anything without regret (including sexual acts) to become famous. In fact, Suzi will do sexual acts just to avoid paying for things. By the end of the film all of these people meet in Topeka and the climax isn't that exciting. I found DUETS to be a film that has great acting. All of the cast, including Huey Lewis, Gwyneth Paltrow and Paul Giamaiit to be enjoyable. If I said it once, I'll say it again, Huey Lewis isn't only an underrated singer, but also an underrated actor. You don't believe me, then see Robert Altman's SHORT CUTS and see for yourself. But what ruins DUETS is it's plot and plot structure. It's all too familar. DUETS appears to be a film that Robert Altman would consider to be too "commercial" so Bruce Paltrow takes over to make a too typical film. And even if the plot structure isn't like Altman, the plots of the multiple characters come out like a movie made for t.v. What's pretty amazing is that all of the actors are pretty darn good singers (except for Andre Braugher, which is reported to have a voice over for his singing). Gwyneth Paltrow takes her acting to a new level by becoming a singer, and she is a good singer. I'm thinking that former beau Brad Pitt is intimidated by now that the girl he made famous by dating her didn't only win a Oscar, but is a good singer. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why a distinguished actress like Gwyneth Paltrow decided to star in this film (look at her last name and

Duets fmovies. The Duets is very charming, relaxing film. You can take your popcorn, sit back and enjoy adventure of middle age man who decided to put some action in his life and for sure many people will laugh hardly recognizing themselves and their funny moments in frustrations :)

I don't want to spoil anything, you just watch this and enjoy in flow of sweet polite characters here and their story.

Well, we all are sick from violence and swearing in movies and they are worst year by year so i hope you see this one and fill brain with joy,honesty and love. You can find that in The Duets. For sure.

If IMDb allows me to share beautiful music video from this movie it will be great:

https://vimeo.com/47710464

We loved the movie. It was very funny, poignant, sweet and the cast of characters was perfect. Gwyneth was fantastic and she sings great. I wasn't sure it was her, but today I read that she did it all. It was great see Huey Lewis, missed him for a long time. The other characters were also very funny and the music was super. We are going out to by the soundtrack after the weekend. Hooray for a great night of fun. That is what movies are for.Maria Bello and Andre Braugner were just perfect fits for their parts.

... before he became a Vegas act.

To be honest, this movie is one of those rare films which is remembered better as nostalgia (based on seeing when in came out in 2000) than when re-viewing (pardon the pun) some 14 years later.

And if I can explain that oddness to you, I believe I can get to the nub, the heart, of DUETS. So I will try.

The first time I saw it, I loved it. I recommended it. I made a mental note that this was a sleeper, a really nice little indie. I wanted to see it again.

It took 14 years for me to get a chance to revisit the film but, on a second viewing, I was not that impressed at all. Here are my notes:

* Paul Giammatti steals this film but that is hardly news, he pretty much steals every film he has ever been in, this script simply gives him more room to move

* the part that Bruce Paltrow cast his daughter in is simply ... bizarre. There are many many ways to play a young girl who meets her wayward father late in life but somehow I don't think this is one of them. Gwen has never looked better and her looks actually distract from the role, aided and abetted by the director having her slink here and there whenever the chance presents itself. This is wrong on many levels.

* the cameos are all interesting and the stories are all interesting but other than the aforesaid performance by Giamatti, they simply fall apart the longer the viewer has endure them.

* on second viewing, I realized that what I liked so much about the film originally was the whole Karioke theme, that this theme has astonishingly been underplayed in movies (boy is that rare!) and it shouldn't be, because it has legs. The first scene in the script with Huey Lewis is the strongest with the most impact, and understand THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING because the story and the film go downhill from there.