Like Brothers

October 30, 2017
At the center of this hilarious dual memoir, the Duplass brothers—who have directed, produced, and written films and TV shows such as Togetherness, Cyrus, and Transparent—reveal their idiosyncratic work habits, such as making up scenes involving people they see at airports and riffing off each other’s ideas in long email chains. They ponder the art of compromise (“Check your ego at the door”) and collaboration: “We have a fundamental desperation to make things, and we are willing to destroy ourselves to get things done.” Jay admits that he’s a little jealous of his younger brother, Mark, but hopes his brother also gets jealous of him, too. The brothers conduct a back-and-forth about the top-10 films of all time, finally choosing a list on which both can agree that includes Joe Versus the Volcano, a “highly intelligent, misunderstood adult fairy tale.” The Duplasses ask their wives what makes the brothers tick: Katie, Mark’s wife, recognizes how creative and emotional turmoil helps feed their process; Jen, Jay’s wife, calls the Duplass family a “fine-tuned little ecosystem.” The Duplass’s entertaining and energetic memoir gives their fans a clear look at the creative genius that drives them.

January 15, 2018
A quirky inside portrait of brotherhood within the "insane Hollywood system."Marx, Coen, Farrelly. Add to that list the Duplass brothers, who have been carving out a place for themselves as writers, directors, producers, and actors (Mark in The League, Jay in Transparent, etc.). In her foreword to this jumpy, eclectic collection of odds and ends, Mindy Kaling writes that the brothers are funny, "woke as hell," and have a "tireless entrepreneurial spirit that inspires." The brothers write that the book is "filled with essays on all kinds of things," which isn't exactly true. There are some--e.g., a short piece on why the band Air Supply is so good or the value of The Karate Kid Part II (even though "there are so many things wrong with this movie")--but mostly this is a hodgepodge of autobiographical sketches, lists of favorite movies (actually the same list slightly edited over and over), emails, rough screenplays, advice to young filmmakers, Mark's short story "The Blowjob," edited by Jay, comments from their wives, and "Airport" 1-5, in which the brothers make up filmic scenarios inspired by the people they see walking and sitting about. We learn that they grew up outside New Orleans and had great boyhoods. Creative and ambitious kids, they played around with a video recorder their father gave them and started writing little scenarios and filming them. In 1996, they started Duplass Brothers Productions and got to work. We follow them in action as they fail (Vince del Rio) and succeed (Cyrus). They made The Puffy Chair for $10,000 and premiered it at the Sundance Film Festival. Other successes followed, including HBO's Togetherness series (2015), until cancelled, and Room 104 (2017).A rather chaotic and messy tale of talent, determination, and success in the world of independent film and TV that hardcore fans will enjoy.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 15, 2017
Indie darlings Mark and Jay Duplass offer a peek inside their decades-long collaboration as the writer-directors of the films The Puffy Chair and Jeff, Who Lives at Home, as well as their acclaimed HBO series, Togetherness. Four years apart in age, the brothers have always been especially close, even sharing a twin bed while growing up in a suburb of New Orleans. Jay and Mark started their filmmaking endeavors in 1985 at the ages of 12 and 8, respectively, using their family's video camera and launching a partnership that would lead to their first independent film in 2000. Though they regard that film as a failure, their next outing won them a coveted spot in the Sundance Film Festival. The brothers alternate the tale of their climb with all sorts of asides, from the stories they crafted about people they observed in airports to sharing unvarnished email exchanges in which they work through their differences. A thoroughly enjoyable peek into the brothers' creative process, filled with tips and guidance for those who want to follow in their footsteps.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)