how did people feel about the film?

This is one of those movies that the more you think about and the more you read what others think, the more you like. When it ended, I just kind of sat there and thought about all the things I had seen and all the things that were there but you couldn't see. It's truly amazing that something with so little "plot" and a shoestring budget can be more effective than a $200 million dollar studio film. Not that I want to reduce it to this, but I didn't think that they were gay; maybe the dynamic of their relationship seemed a little too "close" for some people. I really didn't start thinking about the implications of their decisions until the film ended, but now I realize that even though Mark had changed and Kurt stayed the same (presumably) they still share a common bond that was evident when Kurt told Mark to relax at the end. I loved how nothing was really said afterward on the drive home. And when Kurt said goodbye to Mark, I think that both of them knew that they had grown apart, but that they were happy they had shared the experience and the trip nonetheless. To me, the ending was brilliant in that it showed that this trip up to the hot spring was maybe just a brief distraction in both of their lives as both returned to their normal lives afterward. Though they might not have changed because they saw each other again, they still valued it. Kurt because he was able to connect with someone for a change and remember his past which seemed so much better than his present and Mark because he can remember his past and perhaps even learn something from Kurt about not being so tense.

By the way, I am a voting member for the Independet Spirit Awards and am putting this first for the Cassavetes Award, so hopefully this film will get some of the recognition it deserves.

very nice film, may a little slow but still good

7/10

I Worship The Goddess Amber Tamblyn

Hard to say...
Saw it last week with a small group who were touring an art museum; we saw this when the other exhibits closed. I was at first annoyed that the announcer who spoke before it informed us it was about a pair of 30-something guys who were trying to reestablish a friends from their 20s...but as I watched it I was grateful for that last bit of information. I never would've guessed how recent or distant their friendship would have been.
I liked it OK...I think I probably was confused on a few details since I had trouble hearing the dialogue through a mediocre audio system, but I got the message well. The ending where it showed them both simply walking around seemed a bit bland - I wish they could've been last shown departing. I really loved the nature scene and how they would or wouldn't react to what the other said. And yeah, the notice of how the land isn't in top-notch shape anymore by one who you didn't think would notice that does remind me of what you said to top it off.

Mediocre movie, glad I saw it, but thought it was just "ok".


The movie didn't tell us anything we didn't already know. people grow up, grow apart. Just the way it is.


and to watch two people sit around in a forest where one is obviously bored *beep* just makes it boring for the viewer too...

It was well shot, acted and scripted, but it was all little too slight for my taste.

And I think maybe some people are too quick to equate naturalism with "nothing much happening".

In a film such as The Bicycle Thief, a pioneering effort in naturalism, nothing very dramatic is said, and nothing very dramatic happens (compared to Die Hard, say), but the characters do take an incredible emotional journey (culminating with little Bruno coming to the heart-breaking realization that his father is a mere mortal).

By comparison, while Old Joy is impressively naturalistic, the characters do not make any emotional journey (unlike they do in, say, in the vaguely comprable Sideways). If anything, Mark's opinions and attitudes (that he's outgrown his pot-head buddy) are only re-inforced as the film reaches its close.

And while this maybe commendably perverse and idiosyncratic (and perhaps even "true to teal life"), I'm of the opinion that it also helps to make a pretty uninvolving movie.

Oh, and on the subject of their maybe being a previous homosexual relationship between the two main characters: it's a nice idea, but I don't buy it (although it might have been a better movie if it had been the case).

The reason I say this is because, in the neck-rub scene, Mark is pensive and unnerved. This leads me to believe there is no sexual history between the two because, if there had been, I think he might have acted in a variety of ways (hostile, reciprocal, laugh it off, a kind-but-firm no), but not in a way that suggested he was out of his depth. (I did enjoy how ambiguous the scene was, though. Nicely done.)

I do actually enjoy films where little is said, and meaning is implied (a la Lost in Translation), but I think this well-made film needed a more interesting story to tell.

I thought it was a pretty cheap movie overall, but then again I don't care for low budget flicks much. Still, it was beautifully filmed, as far as cheap digital movies go. The script isn't too bad however, yet I still found it a bit fluffly and lightweight altogether. I'd give it a 6/10, worth seeing on dvd perhaps

A handful of stunning visual moments and some interesting thoughts on friendship. However, I've got to say, it never hurts to have some character development. The ostensible protagonist has no ascertainable qualities at all, so it is almost impossible to care whether there is any connection between the two. There is something slightly moving in the movie, but it is more to me about how little joy falls into anyone's life and how desperately they will cling to tiny shreds. Maybe that's no small accomplishment.

I thought it was beautifully filmed, but other than that--the two main characters were uninteresting. I don't mind a quiet, leisurely paced film as long as it has a decent plot and characters, but this film had neither. For example a movie like "Spring Forward" really worked for me because the dialogue and the characters were were interesting.