Prince Avalanche is a quirky little picture with a pretty impressive production story behind it. David Gordon Green, the director, hoping to get back to his indie roots after making Pineapple Express, Your Highness, and The Sitter, all with varying degrees of success, decided to shoot this movie completely in secret. That's right. Nobody besides those who worked on the film knew about it until it was completed. Surprising considering Green's notoriety among film buffs, and the fact that the film stars Emile Hirsch and Paul Rudd, two relatively big name actors. He accomplished this by having a small cast; just Rudd and Hirsch in the lead roles, and one other actor in a smaller capacity, and shooting the film entirely in the backwoods of Bastrop, Texas not long after the area was ravaged by forest fires. The concept of shooting an indie film completely in secret has pros and cons, but regardless about how you feel about the film, you got to hand it to them, it's a pretty damn cool way to make a movie.
The film takes place in the spring of 1988 and tells the story of two men: Alvin, a crotchety wet blanket type, played by Paul Rudd, and Lance, a young, dumb, full of cum southern boy, . The two men are spending the spring making their way along the highway, repainting yellow traffic lines after a decimating fire. The two men have close to nothing in common and spend most of their days in silence either working or camping for the night. Alvin periodically goes fishing and writes letters to his fiance, who also happens to be Lance's older sister. Lance spends his time masturbating and pining for his weekends spent in the city while Alvin stays behind, enjoying the pleasures of solitude. The film mostly consists of idle conversations between these two men, framed by the desolate, yet breathtaking forest. There are moments of levity, as well as high tension, but the overall rhythm of the movie is very calm and almost meditative. As a result , there is a great deal of silence, which is mostly deliberate, but sometimes feels like time-padding more than anything else. Admittedly, it gets a little frustrating.
It's very assuring that David Gordon Green is getting back to his indie roots after roughly 6 years of working with big studios. He is a gifted director and this film is an excellent showcase of what he can do when completely left in control of his devices. He gives the film's setting, the fire ravaged forest, an expressive fairytale vibe that lets us get lost in the beauty of it all without it feeling like the main focus. It acts as a perfect backdrop to the character's existence. There are some really beautiful shots in this movie, and its almost worth checking out for the direction alone, because it really is the best thing about the movie. Actually, the whole movie is aesthetically fantastic. The film looks gorgeous, and also features an eclectic and low-key score from Explosions in the Sky, who seem to abandon their distinguishable post-rock haunting instrumentals for a more downplayed acoustic feel. The score is a perfect match with Green's visuals.
Another big highlight is Paul Rudd's performance which is totally against-type and nothing short of stunning. Alvin is almost the antithesis of most of the roles on Rudd's resume. He is boring, unadventurous, and sort of socially repulsive. Paul Rudd has mastered the art of portraying likeable leading man characters. Guys you want to hang and have a beer with. Alvin is none of these things. He's not a bad person, he's just so totally unremarkable and flat that its irritating. Much kudos to him for pulling it off. Hirsch, on the other hand, is kind of a disappointment. Lance is also a kind of revolting character. He's immature and vulgar, and more importantly selfish. He's also kind of disgusting as a human. Emile Hirsch is just a little too good-looking and charming to be all that believable and as a result overcompensates by overplaying stupid. He's a good foil to Rudd, but overall his performance is pretty one-note. It's not entirely his fault. It's mostly a combination of poor casting and the comparisons to Rudd's performance. That might seem unfair, but the movie is 95% just the two of them so to compare them is unavoidable. The mismatch of the performances is generally forgivable because the overall chemistry between them is really quite good. Both men at different stages of their lives struggling to connect with each other, the script does a fine job creating naturalistic dialogue between two characters who are so opposite each other. Alvin and Lance simultaneously admire and pity each other for different reasons and the bond they end up forming serves as a reward for the audience rather than a predictable outcome.
The biggest problem with the movie is the sum of all its parts. Even with Green's able and captivating direction, even with Rudd's excellent performance, the movie feels a little hollow. Unfinished even. It might just be the consequence of an indie movie about two guys in the woods, but somehow I feel like it could have gone further. There are interesting spiritual and psychological implications scattered throughout the story, but they mostly get glossed over and unexplored. I'm not sure what exactly the film is missing, but it is definitely devoid of something that could have made it great, rather than merely pleasant. Maybe more characters would have helped, maybe some more conflict. Who's to say? All I can say is that the whole thing felt a little inconsequential. Still, the movie has enough going for it to make it worth checking out. A must-see for anyone who considers themselves to be a fan of Paul Rudd or a lover of indie film in general. Even if it won't blow your mind, it won't offend or put you in a bad mood. It's a very competent, visually striking, and surprisingly sweet film
7/10
No comments:
Post a Comment