'PRINCE AVALANCHE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Quirky indie comedy-drama film from writer/director David Gordon Green. It stars Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch as two summertime road workers (in 1988) who go through women troubles, and conflicts with each other, while spending their summer in isolation (out in the middle of a country highway). The movie is a slight change of pace for Green who's last three films were bigger-budget studio comedy films (like 'PINEAPPLE EXPRESS', 'YOUR HIGHNESS' and 'THE SITTER'). He started out doing critically acclaimed indie dramas (like 'ALL THE REAL GIRLS', 'GEORGE WASHINGTON', 'UNDERTOW' and 'SNOW ANGELS') and wanted to get back to his 'indie roots'. This film was made on a budget of just $60,000 and is set almost all in one location of the highway with mostly just two actors (and a few others from time to time, like Lance LeGault as an alcoholic truck driver). It's pretty much the definition of low-budget independent filmmaking. It's also a little more dramatic than Green's last couple of films but it does have plenty of slapstick oddball comedy as well. For the most part it works.
The film is a remake of a 2011 Icelandic film called 'EITHER WAY', which was written and directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson. Green adapted the screenplay to (as well as directed) this American update which takes place after the Bastrop County Complex fire in Texas in 2011. Rudd plays a summer road worker, named Alvin, who spends his summers in solitude repainting traffic lines, damaged by the fire, out on the country highway. He hires his girlfriend's brother Lance (Hirsch) to help him. Lance hates the job and the two have nothing in common but when they both go through severe women troubles the two find a way to relate and bond (while going through madness together).
The movie is extremely slow paced and dialogue driven. It's basically just a two person character study, out in the middle of the country highway. It's funny at times, due mostly to Rudd's improvisation skills and both actors' strong delivery, but it's also beautifully shot and directed by Green (who also has proved his skills with comedy). On a comedic and touching dramatic level it works, and it is beautiful to look at, but there's not a lot to it. There are much deeper and more thought provoking character studies with far more memorable characters and there are much funnier films out there as well. It's a nice quirky little indie comedy-drama film though and it's nice to see Green diversifying himself (as well as the actors) and getting back to his 'indie roots'.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlUvgTS58bk
Quirky indie comedy-drama film from writer/director David Gordon Green. It stars Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch as two summertime road workers (in 1988) who go through women troubles, and conflicts with each other, while spending their summer in isolation (out in the middle of a country highway). The movie is a slight change of pace for Green who's last three films were bigger-budget studio comedy films (like 'PINEAPPLE EXPRESS', 'YOUR HIGHNESS' and 'THE SITTER'). He started out doing critically acclaimed indie dramas (like 'ALL THE REAL GIRLS', 'GEORGE WASHINGTON', 'UNDERTOW' and 'SNOW ANGELS') and wanted to get back to his 'indie roots'. This film was made on a budget of just $60,000 and is set almost all in one location of the highway with mostly just two actors (and a few others from time to time, like Lance LeGault as an alcoholic truck driver). It's pretty much the definition of low-budget independent filmmaking. It's also a little more dramatic than Green's last couple of films but it does have plenty of slapstick oddball comedy as well. For the most part it works.
The film is a remake of a 2011 Icelandic film called 'EITHER WAY', which was written and directed by Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurdsson. Green adapted the screenplay to (as well as directed) this American update which takes place after the Bastrop County Complex fire in Texas in 2011. Rudd plays a summer road worker, named Alvin, who spends his summers in solitude repainting traffic lines, damaged by the fire, out on the country highway. He hires his girlfriend's brother Lance (Hirsch) to help him. Lance hates the job and the two have nothing in common but when they both go through severe women troubles the two find a way to relate and bond (while going through madness together).
The movie is extremely slow paced and dialogue driven. It's basically just a two person character study, out in the middle of the country highway. It's funny at times, due mostly to Rudd's improvisation skills and both actors' strong delivery, but it's also beautifully shot and directed by Green (who also has proved his skills with comedy). On a comedic and touching dramatic level it works, and it is beautiful to look at, but there's not a lot to it. There are much deeper and more thought provoking character studies with far more memorable characters and there are much funnier films out there as well. It's a nice quirky little indie comedy-drama film though and it's nice to see Green diversifying himself (as well as the actors) and getting back to his 'indie roots'.
Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlUvgTS58bk