Gerry (2003)
It's really a matter of whether or not you can surrender yourself. If you can give up on actively trying to interpret this film and just get into the cinematic rhythm of it all, it's pretty damn grand. Any attempt to leech meaning out of this will inevitably end in frustration and possible walkout; put simply, this is an experiment in pure cinema, an attempt to make a film that exists as is. To call the film pretentious is to misread the film -- there's no reaching towards some grand theme, as far as I can see. It's just about two guys lost in the desert. It's as minimalistic as film gets, and it'll drive most people crazy. But if you can appreciate the aesthetics of the whole endeavor, it's awesome. (It also helps that Damon & Affleck make for two appealing slacker buddies -- after the rock-jumper sequence, I was ready to follow this film anywhere it went.)
Grade: B+
It's really a matter of whether or not you can surrender yourself. If you can give up on actively trying to interpret this film and just get into the cinematic rhythm of it all, it's pretty damn grand. Any attempt to leech meaning out of this will inevitably end in frustration and possible walkout; put simply, this is an experiment in pure cinema, an attempt to make a film that exists as is. To call the film pretentious is to misread the film -- there's no reaching towards some grand theme, as far as I can see. It's just about two guys lost in the desert. It's as minimalistic as film gets, and it'll drive most people crazy. But if you can appreciate the aesthetics of the whole endeavor, it's awesome. (It also helps that Damon & Affleck make for two appealing slacker buddies -- after the rock-jumper sequence, I was ready to follow this film anywhere it went.)
Grade: B+
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