Jeff, Who Lives At Home

Written and directed by Jay Duplass and Mark Duplass; starring Jason Segel (Jeff), Ed Helms (Pat), Judy Greer (Linda), Rae Dawn Chong (Carol), Susan Sarandon (Sharon) 

Is there such a thing as destiny?

I got my coffee and chocolate chip cookie, stuffed them in my backpack and entered the theater just in time to see the Lorax tell people to turn off their cell phones and don’t talk during the movie.  There were only four of us in the theater and we all took the message seriously.  I checked my cell.  We were all evenly spaced though out the theater.  I got a perfect seat – middle back, no one in front of me and no one behind me.  It was just me and the screen.  I disappeared.

The Duplay brothers are accomplished and talented film directors and screenwriters.  They know how to make a well-written feature film with heart, honesty, and courage.  “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” follows “Puffy Chair” and looks into what it means to want to love someone and be loved.  It is a portrait of common lives, common aspirations and fate.  That’s what makes it so spectacular.  It’s common.

The Duplay brothers kept it simple.  They created an exquisite and timeless film that elevates the ordinary.

I love the easy going pace of this film.  It feels natural.  It’s all about destiny.  The whole story unfolds like it was supposed to unfold.

The dialog is real and seems like no one wrote it.  It didn’t try to impress or draw attention to itself.  It just is.  I don’t remember any specific lines.  Maybe that’s a good sign.

All the women characters are portrayed as fully dimensional human beings.  Hurray for the Duplay brothers.  (Examine the shameful “The Descendants” and “50/50” for examples of films that objectify women, blame women, and portray them as objects of desire or objects of disdain.)

For me, and probably me alone, a good film makes me want to run home, hug my kids, and tell my wife I love her.  “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” makes me want to do this.  It feels good to want to do this.  What more could you ask for from a movie?

One of my sons lives in Washington DC.  My daughter is on spring break from college in Sarasota, and my other son is busy right now in high school.  I can’t hug them so I called my wife at work to tell her I loved her.  She was pleasantly surprised and asked me if I had just seen a good movie.  It’s nice to know that someone gets you.  That is what every single character in this film wants – for someone to understand them.  Is it too much to ask?  No.  “Jeff, Who Lives at Home” is a celebration of wanting to be understood and loved.

You may have to suspend some of your disbelief during the ending of the movie that includes a water rescue. Think of it as a parable if you want, but don’t let this scene detract from the overall quality of this fine film.  Being in the right place at the right time is not so unbelievable.  It happens quite often.

Perhaps I was moved by the last scene because it brought back memories.  I’ve been in the right place at the right time to save lives.  Was it destiny that I was on the spot at a particular time in a particular place?  Maybe, maybe not.  I think it just happened the way it was supposed to happen.

My summer job in college was lifeguarding at Lake Josephine. For some reason, for the first time ever, I took one the boats with me to the far lifeguard tower for my thirty minute shift.  The boat wasn’t necessary at that end of the beach.  No one had ever brought a boat down there before.  I don’t why I did it except I thought it might come in handy for some reason.  I didn’t give it another thought.

Twenty minutes later a single engine airplane attempted to take off from the lake and crashed into the deepest part of the swimming area, into a crowd of swimmers directly in  front of me.  I jumped off the tower thinking the worst.  The crowd on the beach surged  forward en masse toward the airplane getting in my way.  I whistled and yelled at them to get back to shore.  They mysteriously obeyed like ordered from heaven, like splitting the Red Sea.   They retreated to shore.  I could now row out and do my job. 

The airplane was flipped upside down.  I saw two swimmers struggling in the water, arms flailing. I rowed to the first one, stern first, just like I was trained to do. I could hear people screaming on shore.  Other wise it was very quiet.  Nothing really existed except my boat and the girl I was trying to save.  The second girl was on my mind too.  One at a time.  Don’t think.  One at a time.

I pulled the first girl up, over the stern, and into the boat. Both of her legs her cut off - brown muscle, white bones, and red blood.  A thick slab of her skin hung over the edge of the boat.  I reached over and pulled in the rest of her mangled leg, no foot. I placed it close to her.  It was still connected.  Don’t think.  Her eyes her open, she was alert and speechless.  I knew I had to work fast.

I rowed to the other girl and grabbed her.  I didn’t want to lift her into the boat because I was afraid.  I asked her if she could hang on to the side while I rowed in.  She said she yes and I rowed to shore.

Another set of miracles saved both their lives.  Coincidences of nurses on the beach, and a nearby ambulance, and everyone working together certainly helped save both their lives. 

The ambulances left.  I looked at my boat.  The bottom was filled with her blood.  Now what?  It’s her blood.  It belongs to her.  I tipped it up on its side and rinsed her blood out of the boat and into the lake.  Out of the boat and into the lake, it drained away. 

Without the boat these saves would have been impossible.  The only time I, or anyone else, ever brought a boat down to the far lifeguard tower was on that day at that time.  Never before and never after.  Is there such a thing as destiny?