Duane Hopwood is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Matt Mulhern, and starring David Schwimmer, Janeane Garofalo, Judah Friedlander, John Krasinski and Steve Schirripa.
The film's plot centers on the title character (Schwimmer), an alcoholic whose life is spiraling downward rapidly after his divorce from Linda (Garofalo).
Duane visits Mary, who tells him she wants to live with him due to Katie calling her fat and Linda's new boyfriend, Bob, encouraging her to go running and lose weight.
However, her car fails to start, so she remains at his house overnight, and although Duane refrains from hitting on her any further, a mutual attraction grows.
He later gets drunk, goes to his friend and housemate Anthony's stand-up gig at the casino and proceeds to ruin it, before being restrained and made to leave.
Duane accepts responsibility for the breakup of the family, and Linda asks him to come and say goodbye before the move, promising to arrange for him to visit the girls in South Carolina once they have settled.
Duane Hopwood was a character featured in director Mulhern's previous film, Walking to the Waterline, then played by Alan Ruck.
The website's consensus reads: "Duane Hopwood proves David Schwimmer has dramatic chops that have been too rarely tested onscreen, but fails to engage as an overall viewing experience.
[3] Peter Sobczynski gave the film a highly negative review, regarding the character of Duane as unlikable and the ending as being too upbeat.
Club called the film "middling" and unfavorably compared it to The Good Girl, featuring Schwimmer's Friends co-star, Jennifer Aniston.