Gerry Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Gerry
Year: 2002
Director: GusVan Sant
Country: US
Language: English

Gus Van Sant's Gerry has a polarized audience; those that think it is a visionary/transcendent masterpiece and those that feel it is a self-indulgent, molasses-paced arthouse bore. Clearly made with reckless abandon, without a niche audience or market profile in mind, Gerry was destined to alienate the mainstream and leave critics like Roger Ebert on their toes. I first viewed this film 6 years ago, and still find it to be absolutely breathtaking. 

A friendship between two young men (Casey Affleck and Matt Damon) is tested when they go for a hike in a desert and forget to bring any water or food with them. 

Gerry is an achievement in Cinema because it is the first American narrative film available to a mainstream audience to employ an excessive long take style in a uniform manner and in a particular rhythm across the whole of its length. Takes as long as 2 minutes permeate the run time and dominate the pace of the picture. There is very little plot in terms of dramatic action or conflict, infact much of the film just consists of two friends silently walking across the desert. 

Gerry demonstrates that interesting and exciting is a relative term that does not need to translate into melodrama. It's beautiful cinematography, complex character developments, ingenious camera movements and great use of sound all make for a great picture. Influenced by directors Bela Tarr, Andrei Tarkovsky, and Chantal Ackerman, all of whom have isolated the tendency to shoot in extreme long takes, emphasize real time, and with reduced plot, Gerry is a film where patience is a large requirement of its audience. 

Overall I was impressed by Gus Van Sant's brave masterpiece of Cinema. Though I doubt it did well at the box office, Gerry is certainly a film that amazes with each viewing. With this picture, Gus Van Sant ventures down a different, less traveled cinematic path, one meant to invoke themes not often explored in conventional cinema.