On an entertainment scale, 'Old Joy' is right up there with watching grass grow. In Kelly Reichardt's painfully dull sophomore feature, not much happens. The premise is basically this -- two old friends go on a camping trip and talk about their family, swim, smoke weed and talk about philosophy. One of the friends is a married man, Mark (Daniel London) and the other is a hairy, balding and unquestionably pathetic washed-up hippie by the name of Kurt (Will Oldham).
Techincally speaking, 'Old Joy' is a well-made film. The cinematography is neat, the dialogue although boring is realistic and the acting is solid. Oldham and London are both decent in their roles, and the two have great screen chemistry. But for the average viewer, there is little to like about this inexcusably tedious exercise. The film's gratuitous drawn-out shots of nature gets to be tiresome, annoying and dare I say a bit pretentious. If you enjoy watching grass grow, get ready for the thrill-ride of the decade! Grade: B-
Techincally speaking, 'Old Joy' is a well-made film. The cinematography is neat, the dialogue although boring is realistic and the acting is solid. Oldham and London are both decent in their roles, and the two have great screen chemistry. But for the average viewer, there is little to like about this inexcusably tedious exercise. The film's gratuitous drawn-out shots of nature gets to be tiresome, annoying and dare I say a bit pretentious. If you enjoy watching grass grow, get ready for the thrill-ride of the decade! Grade: B-