Mojave (2015)

A suicidal artist goes into the desert, where he finds his doppelgänger, a homicidal drifter.

Director:

William Monahan

Writer:

William Monahan (screenplay)

Stars:

Oscar Isaac, Garrett Hedlund, Louise Bourgoin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Garrett Hedlund	...	Tom
Louise Bourgoin	...	Milly
Cletus Young	...	Old-Timer
Oscar Isaac	...	Jack
Tim Soergel	...	Park Ranger
Ralph Brannen	...	Town Car Driver
Walton Goggins	...	Jim
Niall Madden	...	Eddy
Fran Kranz	...	Bob
Matt Jones	...	Insane Doorman
Mark Wahlberg	...	Norman
Ron Duncan	...	Mal
Oliver Cooper	...	Nick
Candice Rodrigo	...	Young Female Deputy
Frank Miranda	...	Young Male Deputy

Storyline

A famous Hollywood director is feeling dissatisfied with his life, the issues in it including the disintegration of his marriage which will probably end with an expensive divorce and loss of custody of his young daughter. To get away from his life if only for a short period, he drives into the Mojave Desert. The getaway doesn't turn out the way he expects, the major turning point being when a sociopathic drifter stumbles into his camp. That encounter ends up with both men seemingly wanting to kill the other. What the director is unaware of is that the drifter, who didn't know who he was during their encounter, ends up finding out who he is and about his life, which makes him an easier target once the director returns to Los Angeles. The drifter seemingly wants to torture the director by threats of harm against the director's friends, associates and/or loved ones, including his current girlfriend, a French actress, regardless of if the threats are real or just used as that ...

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Plot Keywords:

drifter | desert | breast | brief female nudity | man in shower | 

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Genres:

Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

3 December 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atrapados (Mojave)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Atlas Independent,Henceforth Pictures,Henceforth

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The picture was shot at 129 minutes on Alexa using Todd-AO lenses. The version presently streaming is 93 minutes, and the footage in this version is not color corrected.

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Connections

Features Greed (1924)

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Soundtracks

Can't Help It
Written and Performed by Garrett Hedlund
Courtesy of Garrett Hedlund

User Reviews

A lot of (great) moving parts that never quite come together.

Something that looks like a 'film', specifically this term and the aesthetic to which it implies, I feel has come to be expected of contemporary dramas/character studies. Mojave knows it. It looks to tick a lot of these archetypal boxes: jaded, frustrated characters, blatant motifs (the temptation of Christ?), a redemptive narrative, an undertone of despair that never loosens up until the end of the last arc. Yes with all these elements motivating it's narrative, the movie never achieves a sense of coherency; it's Hitchcockian one moment with it's intermittent key score, and then Fincher-esque the next with it's sweeping pans and use of negative space in shots. It's an actor's playground that, as charming and talented as all the individuals are, doesn't leave a lot for the audience to soak in, unless you really, really like angry, shout-y Mark Wahlberg, who is playing quite possibly the closest characterisation to his real life personality in this role. I never fully understood the goal of the protagonist... I guess it had something to do with doing the right thing and his daughter? Too much Tyler Durton syndrome in concepts like these I feel.