Film Review – The Do-Deca-Pentathlon

After spending a few features in the company of movie stars (including “Cyrus” and “Jeff, Who Lives at Home”), filmmakers Mark and Jay Duplass return to their no-budget roots with “The Do-Deca-Pentathlon.” Although built around a compelling sporting gimmick, the effort is anything but breezy, refusing to dissolve into predictable comedy beats of discomfort and competition, instead taking a domestic disturbance route, observing the wreckage of a brotherly union returning to an ultimate physical and mental trial in a quest to settle household dominance. Holding tightly to Duplass improvisation and zoom-happy traditions, the picture keeps a laudable distance away from expectations, yet it seldom provides a rich understanding of the sibling dynamic at hand, making for a strangely padded 76-minute-long sit. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com