CHUCK & BUCK

Director Miguel Arteta / 1999 / USA

"Chuck and Buck were once 'best friends', a relationship that means so much to children but fades once the innocence that formed it is gone. For Buck this innocence has never gone away. His interests are infantile; his pursuits are childish. He is 27 years old but still lives with his mother. When she dies, reality crashes in on him. Stubbornly resistant to change, he cannot cope Chuck reappears in Buck's life when he shows up at the funeral. Buck fixates on him, anxious to rekindle past affections', so much so that he follows Chuck to Los Angeles, where he has established a successful life. A fast-rising executive in the music industry and engaged to a wealthy attractive woman, he is living the American Dream. The proverbial loose cannon, Buck is insistent that things revert to the way they were, which quickly erodes their relationship to the point where Chuck must confront and reckon with his past. The ambiguities relating to how, where, and why lines are crossed are what make the film so richly complex. Chuck & Buck is an unsettling examination of what happens when innocence is lost and when it is unreasonably retained. Director Miguel Arteta solidifies his reputation as a unique voice creating fresh and sometimes disturbing portraits."—Sundance Film Festival


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