DOPPELGANGER PAUL directed by Dylan Akio Smith and Kris Elgstrand, written by Elgstrand, with Tygh Runyan and Brad Dryborough. A filmswelike release. 81 minutes. Opens Friday (February 24) at the Royal. For times, see Indie & Rep Film. Rating: NNN
Unassuming machinist Paul (Brad Dryborough) is being stalked by the very intense Karl (Tygh Runyan), who believes Paul is his doppelgänger even though they look nothing alike.
That’s the jumping-off point for this absurdist comedy, which winds up morphing into a kind of ironic road movie once Paul and Karl become acquainted and drive off to confront the authors who’ve purloined Karl’s epic manuscript – condensed into readable form by the compulsive Paul – and published it as their own work.
It’s an awfully complex premise, raising grand existential ideas about identity, empathy and synchronicity that never quite fit together properly. (Hal Hartley could have knocked this one out of the park.) But the comedic give-and-take between Runyan and Dryborough makes the trip easy enough to take.
