Paddleton

Whatever may feel annoying or disingenuous about Paddleton is trumped by the emotional honesty of its ending, and the remarkable tenderness of Romano's work.

To get a sense of how excruciating the first hour is, you need to imagine Dumb and Dumber played for tears instead of laughs.

Previous writing-directing work by Duplass with his brother, Jay ("Jeff Who Lives at Home"), could be quietly devastating. "Paddleton" is mostly just quiet.

The film’s early playfulness all but disappears in its final 20 minutes as “Paddleton” blindsided us with an emotionally earnest and deeply affecting ending.