Gerry, 2002

First up, this movie is not going to appeal to everyone. It is slow, there is not much dialogue, and quite frankly not a lot happens. It concerns two men (Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, who refer to each other as Gerry throughout the film) who go hiking in a national park in order to see "a thing". They never see the thing. We never find out what the thing is. It doesn't matter what the thing is. Somewhere along the path, the two Gerrys take a wrong turn and get lost. They spend the next 90 minutes walking, walking, walking, and a bit more walking. Occasionally they talk - not about life or death, or how quickly their situation is deteriorating - but about a foolish contestant they saw on Jeopardy, and a video game that Affleck's Gerry was playing a few nights ago. It is both touching and funny at the same time. As the movie progresses, you quickly become accustomed to the slowness of the pacing. There are one-take scenes that last upwards of five minutes. One in particular - a side-on shot of Damon and Affleck marching in unison - is a clear nod to Bela Tarr's epic masterpiece "Werckmeister Harmonies". These scenes are beautiful, illustrating vast landscapes of awesome beauty and terrifying isolation. I would encourage people to watch this film. Sometimes a slow, quiet, thoughtful film can be just as rewarding (if not more) than a more conventional one. However, if you find your mind wandering after 10 minutes, you may as well reach for the remote control, because it doesn't get any less languid.

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