Gerry (2002)

So, my good mate Exiled recently wrote about Gus Van Sant's Elephant and had a lot of good things to say about it. Little did I know that it's part of a trilogy, starting with Gerry and ending with Last Days, which I've read some pretty dismal reviews of. Yet, reading about Gerry, I was immediately drawn to it, just because it seems like something that's right down my alley. I've read almost nothing but praise for it. So, I certainly wasn't prepared for a film that was such a boring, dare I say..chore to watch.

I have nothing but admiration for Van Sant's film, though. He's done something completely different and original in a time where it's hard to find a dozen films worth seeing a year. It's very unconventional, and the tone of the film is great. But, it's just so incredibly boring. There are a few long, unbroken takes of the two guys simply walking in the desert. No dialogue, nothing happening at all, they're just walking. I'm all for setting the right mood in a film, but to me, it just seemed like most of it serves no purpose whatsoever.

What's intriguing though, is that you never learn anything substantial about either character. In fact, we never even know who they actually are. In that respect, it reminds me of a kind of cinematic ink blot test, where you could show it to many different people and get many different responses. Are they friends, are they brothers, are they lovers, are they enemies, are they strangers? Heck, do they even really exist?

Personally, I didn't like it, but a film like Gerry is extremely subjective, and I firmly believe in the axiom that one man's trash is another man's treasure. The reasons that I disliked the film could be precisely the same reasons you love it. And hey, I said the same things about 2001 the first time I saw it on a pan&scan VHS tape years ago, so you never know.