People are voting emotionally.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This movie gives us a part of a father's life, who is also an alcoholic. It is moving and touching is a good way: the story is not over dramatic, there is no burst of drama. It does feel very real; it feels like life, too. Stuff happens, and you have to deal with it. Maybe the storyline is a tad different from the classics, but it only gives more realism into it.The actors are also very good, they give us an excellent performance. Just as much the adults as the kids. They all are very believable, and all previous roles fade away to leave only the character of the movie.All in all, a must see that deserves much more recognition that what it is given.

David Schwimmer is absolutely fabulous in the title role. He conveys the anger, fear and torment of a man whose life is going downhill, and know it, and can't stop it. All the props that keep him going are taken away until all he has left is himself, and the truth. And that is what this movie is about: confronting the truth. Duane Hopwood is a metaphor for everyone. His life is changing and he doesn't like it and does everything he can to avoid having to deal with it. Frustration and anger leads to rage as Duane tries protect what is left of his self-respect. Duane's story is made even more poignant by the fact that he is essentially a good, decent person, which makes his decline that more intense and tragic. For this movie is about tragedy, and redemption. It is possible to reverse the downward spiral, but it takes a lot of strength, and for Duane Hopwood, his life is on the line.

Excellent movie. The cast is perfect, great length, plot, point, etc. I can't say enough great things about it. The best you'll ever feel watching a dark movie. Yeah, it's a feel good, dark movie. But not so much a comedy. And David Schwimmer is great. Don't worry about watching a "Ross" movie, cause this definitely isn't it. If you've seen it, you probably know what I'm talking about, if not, you don't know what you're missing. Sorry to sound so extreme on the descriptive words, as I generally try to avoid those reviews as being "extreme." But this is worthy of the praise. I've tried to get friends of mine to watch it, but they usually just dismiss it as another "Ross Geller" movie, which it is not.

Duane Hopwood is a quiet gem. Writer/director Matt Mulhern gives us a backstory in the opening credits that sets up an aura of sadness. In a quick, lyrical, silent montage, Duane (David Schwimmer) is shown at home cavorting with two daughters over the breakfast table. Then we see a car parked sideways, half on the sidewalk, half on the street. In the early morning dawn, the driver's side door is open. Next, Duane passes out on the bed while his wife Linda (Janeane Garofalo) shakes her head in frustration and closes the door. What has happened to this man? How has he fallen so far? Alcohol. Duane works as a pit boss at Caesars Palace in Atlantic City and he doesn't even realize, or fails to admit that he has a problem. He has a couple of cocktails after work. He arrives home and drinks beers and falls asleep in an easy chair. Later he attends an AA meeting but can't own up to his troubles. He says he's there on the advice of his lawyer. David Schwimmer is marvelous in a heart-breaking role. As he fights to be with his daughters we feel ambivalent toward him. We admire his love for eight-year old Mary and five-year old Kate, but we also don't feel that they would be safe around his drinking. Early in the film, Duane is pulled over for a DWI. The cop, an old school friend, is about to cover-up the moment, but when he discovers Mary in the back of the SUV everything changes. His ex-wife – a sympathetic character torn between her past love for Duane and her desire to have him confront his drinking problem – seeks to revoke Duane's visitation rights. He is dangerous, after all. But he is a good father. Mulhern captures this in a wonderfully lyrical moment. Kate, as she and dad ride bicycles on Atlantic City's boardwalk, says she wants to be with him and worries about being fat. Mom's new boyfriend, "Jogging Bob," wants her to get on a diet plan. She's eight years old. Duane reaffirms her self worth, and later confronts Bob about his overzealous approach to nutrition. Schwimmer has an easy-going intensity. He's polite and laid back, but then he'll have outbursts of violence, clutching a baseball bat or throwing a bicycle into the ocean. Often his hair and face is wet, saturated with alcohol, and his eyes are bleary. He stumbles through the world. Moreover, as his losses mount so do his verbal jabs at others. To wannabe standup comic Anthony (Judah Friedlander in a schticky, fun role), Duane tells him you're thirty-eight and chasing a dream. You'll never make it. Later after a moment of intimacy with Gina (Susan Lynch) he tells her that he still loves his ex. Gina leaves his apartment. Honesty or cruelty? A fine line that Schwimmer walks throughout Mulhern's subtle story. Many actors have had career-transforming performances. In the 50s and 60s, Jack Lemmon moved from light-comedy touches in It Should Happen to You (1954) and Mister Roberts (1955) to serious, dramatic parts as alcoholics in both Days of Wine and Roses (1962) and Save the Tiger (1973). Now it's Schwimmer's turn in Duane Hopwood. His performance is nuanced and sincere. Schwimmer isn't flashy or seamy like Nicolas Cage in the over-sentimentalized Leaving Las Vegas. He's just an everyday guy, very believable, and as he, in the hands of Mulhern's fine script and lyrical direction, takes his baby steps on the journey to recovery, we care about him. Schwimmer's ordinariness becomes for us extraordinarily poignant.