''The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'' is a 2012

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film written and directed brothers

Jay Duplass Lawrence Jay Duplass (born March 7, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor and author widely known for his films '' The Puffy Chair'' (2005), ''Cyrus'' (2010), and ''Jeff, Who Lives at Home'' (2011), made in collaboration with his younger brother, ...

and

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996. Duplass has written and directed films, ...

. The film stars Mark Kelly,

Steve Zissis Steve Zissis ( el, Στηβ Ζήσης; born December 17, 1975) is an American actor, writer and producer. A longtime friend of Jay and Mark Duplass, he has appeared in and co-produced some of their productions, including the films '' Baghead'' ...

Jennifer Lafleur Jennifer Lafleur is an American actress. She is known for appearing in the independent films '' The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'' (2012), ''The Pretty One'' (2013), '' The Midnight Swim'' (2014), ''MAD'' (2016) and ''6 Years'' (2015). On television, Lafl ...

, and Julie Vorus. The film had its world premiere at SXSW on March 11, 2012.SXSW
/ref> It was released on June 26, 2012, through

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of ...

, prior to being released in a limited release on July 6, 2012, by

Fox Searchlight Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century St ...

and Red Flag Releasing.YouTube
/ref>

Plot

The film is about two brothers in their mid-30s (played by Mark Kelly and

) whose lifelong rivalry compels them to secretly complete an athletic competition that they came up with in high school but left unfinished.

Cast

* Mark Kelly as Jeremy *

as Mark ** Brendan Robinson as Young Mark *

as Stephanie * Julie Vorus as Alice

Production

Production on the film commenced in 2008, in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Release

The film had its world premiere at SXSW on March 11, 2012. It went on to premiere at the

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in i ...

on April 26, 2012. Shortly after, it was announced that

Fox Searchlight Pictures Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production company and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is part of the Walt Disney Company. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc. for 20th Century Fox (later 20th Century Stu ...

, and Red Flag Releasing had acquired distribution rights to the film. The film was released through

on June 26, 2012, before a limited release on July 6, 2012.

Critical response

, the film holds a 76% approval rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, based on 41 reviews with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Slight but satisfying, ''The Do-Deca-Pentathlon'' wrings fresh laughs from tired man-child comedy tropes."Rotten Tomatoes
/ref> Critic Stephen Holden of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it the Duplass brothers' second-best film, after their debut, ''

The Puffy Chair ''The Puffy Chair'' is a 2005 mumblecore road film written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass. It stars Mark Duplass, Katie Aselton and Rhett Wilkins. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005, and went on to ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Do-Deca-Pentathlon 2012 films 2012 independent films Duplass Brothers Productions films Films about fictional Olympics-inspired events American independent films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films