A story about a hike that goes very wrong. So very little happens that I’m surprised to see three people share the writing credit - did they each write two pages of script and then decide to start rolling film?
I was mostly bored and relieved that someone else’s pick for our film club was as bad as my own. It wasn’t absolutely terrible though. Here’s some random things I liked:
- The Gerrys (Gerries?) have a peculiar way with language, seeming to impart instant meaning to strange phrases on-the-spot so casually, as if they have always been saying them to each other. They suddenly talk about “mating grounds” or”dirt mattresses” or “succumbing” as if they were Scientologists immersed in their own custom vocabulary.
- Sorry Matt Damon, but you weren’t the best actor in this. While ideally the camera would never linger on anyone’s unmoving face for 3-5 minutes at a time, I much preferred it when the camera chose Casey Affleck instead of Matt Damon. He brought as much dimension and nuance as one could to this sterile, stark script.
- I loved the final, surreal early morning walking scene at first (until it went on 4x longer than it ought to have, of course). It had some strong experimental 70s film vibes.
- While none of the few other humans were credited, Luke Wilson was in this, right? RIGHT?! The internet has nothing to say on this matter, perhaps I too am delusional after this long walk in the desert.
Also, I wanted to exclaim “Blue Screen of Death!” at the movie’s end but no one would have appreciated that joke so instead I’m telling it here. Was that joke worth reading or writing? No, not at all, but then that’s GERRY for you.
