Gerry

 

 

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There's a scene in this film that must run for 15 minutes. Casey and Matt walk across a salt flat in almost complete darkness, the sun is rising slowly, real time, the image gets brighter and brighter until, at the end of the scene, the guys are still walking, in daylight.

This film makes demands on its viewers and if you're some drone whose idea of intellectual insight is Matrix Revolutions, you're going to be terribly, terribly confused. There is story, there is plot, there are characters. You just have to look for them. For everyone else - viewers with half a brain - this is a minor masterpiece of contemporary American cinema.

A film is different art form than a book. Most movies don't know that. They are just a visual story, that a book could tell by words. In other words, all you need to know about most movies is their script.
Gerry, just like Elephant, is a great example of how you can pass this visceral cinematic feeling that you can only get by a meaningfull image. What's the story in Gerry? Where are the plot ponts? So few... But even so, both movies have the feelings of living those situations more than any dumb film we go watch every month. Life is not like a movie, crazy things don't happen every 10 minutes, and Gus Van Saint knows that.

"Gerry" is a deeply symbolic movie filled with meaning, depth, richness and a compelling directorial vision. Rarely does such a movie grace our eyes.

But none of that matters. Why?

Because this movie is so boring it will make you want to stab yourself in the head with a craft knife. Gus Van Sant's third "death" movie is a movie that stretches out a five-minute plot to a full-length movie, filled with talking, walking, sitting, talking, walking, and... MORE WALKING. It's like watching home videos of two strangers backpacking.

In a sense, I have already described the plot. Two young men, both named Gerry (Matt Damon and Casey Affleck), drive out into the desert to look at a "thing." Then they decide they don't want to see the thing, and so instead of driving back to civilization and going to a bar like SANE people, they... keep walking.

And walking. And walking. They walk through a field. They follow animal tracks. They walk through more desert. And when they get lost, their desperation leads them to violence. Here's the abridged summary: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZSNORESNOREZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

In a sense, I can understand what Gus Van Sant was doing -- "Gerry" has some intriguing ideas about how endless boredom, monotony and disorientation can warp our minds, and it is graced with eerie, almost otherworldly scenery with rolling clouds, pale soft skies and ethereally alien desertscapes. And since this is based on real life, it allows us to explore human nature.

But it's JUST. SO. BORING. It actually feels like you're lost in a desert... and that is BORING.

It's just ten-minute-long shots of Affleck and Damon shuffling slowly across the sand, driving the car, sitting on rocks, and watching the sun rise. Every time the monotony starts to bore you into a hypnotic stupor, reminding the viewers that they are watching a movie that is as interesting as watching paint dry. On grass. While a glacier melts.

And maybe that is what Van Sant was going for. Maybe he wanted us to feel bored, frustrated and empty... but he also gives viewers absolutely nothing else. It's just an endless, mindless trudge across the desert, which doesn't really make you think about anything deeper than "PLEASE GOD, KILL THEM BOTH."

In conclusion, "Gerry" is like watching someone's vacation videos... if they decided to do an endurance trek, and forgot to turn off the camera first. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A Rarity!
Great film, the scenery and photography on this is stunning. The performances of the 2 actors is very good, although where were they headed in the first place??? don't matter. Read more

Published on Feb 20 2007 by B. Wicks

1.0 out of 5 stars A no brainer.....
What idiots would stop a car in the middle of nowhere and start running without any thought as to where they were going, or had gone? Read more

Published on Aug 14 2004 by rickel

3.0 out of 5 stars Visually stunning...but very drawn out.
This film would make the producers of National Geographic proud. It is a lonely and beautiful view of the desert we are given hear but the dialogue and purpose of this movie is... Read more

Published on July 13 2004 by derty dee

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for Everyone -- But...
Frustration. To me the goal of art is to delve into a human emotion or feeling, to make the viewer of the art feel what the creator of the art is trying to visualize... Read more

Published on July 8 2004 by Po

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Beautiful Film....
I rented "Elephant" and "Gerry" in the same night. "Elephant" was a let-down, great concept and experiment, but all in all a failure as far as I was... Read more

Published on July 1 2004 by kinojay33

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting concept, tests your patience, but a once-view
Two guys. One desert. Little plot or dialog.
With that said, one knows some people will love it and some hate it, whether it be for their hipster pretentious flair or lack... Read more

Published on May 31 2004 by ephemeralzen

1.0 out of 5 stars Pass this one by
Other then the time lapse photography of the sky and desert.

This film is a big bore.

Published on May 29 2004 by Daniel H. Paquette

1.0 out of 5 stars Oh please...IT SUCKS
Forget all this junk you're reading from reviewers who say it's the problem of an ADD generation who can't appreciate the subtle beauty of this film -- if anything, that's what's... Read more

Published on May 7 2004 by C.J. Hustwick

4.0 out of 5 stars Has to be the slowest movie ever made, but still worth it
I was pretty stunned by the first hour of this movie, wondering just where the heck it was going. Almost nothing happens, literally. Read more

Published on April 17 2004 by C. Heinrich

1.0 out of 5 stars Gerry
This movie is for a laid back person and I mean laid back and needs a good night of sleep. At first I laughed as the car was going down the road. Read more

Published on April 14 2004 by D. Jenkins

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