Directed and written by: Justin Matthews and Luke Spencer Roberts
Starring: Dylan Sprouse, Callan McAuliffe, Denny Love, Hart Denton, Maria Gabriela de Faria, Rachel Matthews, Christian McGaffney, Ronald Guttman, and Patrick Warburton
Runtime: 100 minutes
‘The Duel’: This modern-day dramedy, about an old-school idea, successfully balances humor and anxiety
“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
Woody (Callan McAuliffe) discovers that his girlfriend had an affair with his best friend, Colin (Dylan Sprouse), and he decides to serve revenge with fiery heat.
Woody burns Colin’s surfboard, one with colossal sentimental value. Colin’s late father crafted the board for his son, and it’s now charred into smoke on a Southern California beach in the black of night.
The audience witnesses this striking, burning sight, but Colin does not. Still, the thought of his BFF torching this personal memento ignites Colin’s ire, and the two 20-somethings need to settle their differences.
Talking it out over a few beers while playing “Madden NFL 24” won’t cut it.
They decide that a more somber solution is required, and Woody and Colin choose a duel to the death.
This story sounds as serious as a heart attack, but directors/writers Justin Matthews and Luke Spencer Roberts’ “The Duel” is a comedy too. Woody, Colin, and their buds, Sam (Denny Love) and Kevin (Hart Denton), wander from California to Mexico on a road trip to see this duel declaration through. The screenplay basks in the absurdity of this mutually destructive threat, as Sam and Kevin act as the on-screen observers for the audience. They attempt a voices-of-reason responsibility for Woody and Colin, but Sam and Kevin are unwilling chaperones or wingmen for their stubborn besties.
In a way, “The Duel” shares some parallels with the teen comedy “Losin’ It” (1982), in which four kids – led by Dave (Jackie Earle Haley) and another Woody (Tom Cruise) – head to Tijuana to party.
In both movies, four naive young men throw themselves into the deep end of the pool, tread water, and attempt to reach a secure edge for safety, although in “The Duel”, the stakes are dramatically higher.
With Woody and Colin taking a stoic and unyielding outlook towards destruction, the screenplay leans on Love’s Sam, Denton’s Kevin, and other colorful characters for comic relief.
Sam and Kevin comedically balance one another with the former’s optimism and the latter’s gloom and doom, and their engaging on-screen time is welcomed.
Along the way, they meet Christof (Patrick Warburton, best known as Puddy from “Seinfeld”), an eccentric database of high-stakes mano e mano combat knowledge and a collector of personal warfare instruments in his warehouse-district abode. Christof’s instructions, via his elegant and posh cadence, help guide Woody and Colin into a choice of terminal tools.
However, they need a locale to sanction this collision, and they bump into a small-time dealer, Joey (Christian McGaffney), who will help escort them south of the border to a drug kingpin, Rudolpho (Ronald Guttman). Sam’s and Kevin’s comedic exchanges with Joey generally miss, but the cocaine-fueled Joey certainly provides an element of danger. On the other hand, Guttman’s Rudolpho shines with all the feels of a Bond villain. He eloquently speaks like an aristocrat while providing comfort in his lavish Biltmore-like estate but also exudes a sense of gravitas and finality. He and his dozens of guests expect a real-life lethal contest with the pomp and circumstance of a holiday banquet and after-dinner entertainment on lavish grounds.
Credit Matthews and Roberts’ team for finding such a beautiful locale for the film’s second and third acts and cinematographer Robert Brinkmann, production designer Gordon Strain, and costume designer Lara de Bruijn for capturing the opulence all around the four men.
Speaking of beauty and opulence, a debutante named Aphrodite (Maria Gabriela de Faria) engages with the boys as a wacky but informed loose cannon. The guys (and the audience) clasp onto this semi-sane person as the slow-moving madness of a duel seems inevitable.
Still, Woody and Colin have free will and could back out, but what would be the consequences if they canceled their clash at Rudolpho’s estate?
In the 21st century, men might settle their disputes over conversation, social media, or the previously mentioned beer and video games, but “The Duel” places two modern-day men into a potential promise of physical consequences for unjust actions.
Matthews and Roberts throw the audience and the players into an uncomfortable arrangement and build tension to see if Woody and Colin will push forward with their declaration. Over the course of a 100-minute runtime, simple talk leisurely becomes an authentic threat, and the filmmakers and supporting cast successfully play with humorous tones while insecurity also runs high.
Revenge is a dish best served cold, but will cooler heads prevail?
“The Duel” delves into a struggle of ideas between eras, faces the audience, and answers this question.
Jeff’s ranking
3/4 stars
