Old Joy...new bore

I'm all for minimalism. Stories don't always need car chases, happenstance, or far-fetched plot twists to be intersting. Heck, they don't even always need any words (see: 3-Iron). But there's minimalism that allows for emotion to shine through, and minimalism to the point of nothing. Unfortunately, Old Joy falls into the latter category.

Old Joy tells the story of two friends played by Daniel London and Will Oldham (Bonnie Prince Billy) who have grown apart. One has settled down and is about to become a father, while the other is wandering wherever life takes him. They try to reconnect over a weekend camping trip to some hot springs in Oregon.

It doesn't take very long to figure out that these two have taken different paths in life and that their friendship has suffered because of it, but nothing really happens after that. They drive, they get lost, they talk some, they drive some more. The scenery was gorgeous and I think the acting and the dialogue rang fairly true, but that doesn't necessarily make for an interesting film. I could film 76 minutes out of my day and it would probably be pretty realistic, but no one would want to watch it.

There's not much more to say. I think I'm in the minority about this film as I've read a number of rather glowing reviews about it. Maybe I'm missing the subtlety or I'm just too involved in my capitalist existence to appreciate the extreme minimalism, but Old Joy mostly just left me with a void where a movie should have been.