Prince Avalanche

source: Prince Avalanche

For those willing to try something different, you may find some value in this independent film. I thought the movie offered some quirky dialogue, characters, and situations, in its own quiet way. Set in 1988, in the wooded areas of central Texas, near Garland, and not long after the devastating forest fires of the previous year in that section of the state. It's pretty much a two character film with Paul Rudd, making a change from the over-the-top lewd and crude of the Apatow-like movies, playing Alvin, who has left a serious relationship with a woman named Madison to "find himself" in the solitude of his new job in the forest. They still communicate by letter and he sends her money, as well as studying German language tapes so they can eventually re-unite and travel to Germany. Alvin is the head of a two person stripe-crew (painting yellow lines along the roads of Texas) and has recently hired Madison's brother Lance as his assistant. Lance is portrayed by the talented actor Emile Hirsch, and is quite different personality wise from Alvin. He doesn't take the job very seriously, doesn't even like the outdoors, and is always horny. I thought both Rudd and Hirsch performed quite well in their roles. Not everything works here, and sometimes the dialogue between the two seems flat and awkward. However, there's also lots that does work here and the rapport between them, even when they're bickering and arguing can be quite enjoyable. The late actor Lance Legault also adds some good comic relief in his role of a grizzled truck driver traveling the roads that Alvin and Lance are working. One thing I particularly liked in the movie was the atmospherics and solitude allowed by the versatile director and writer David Gordon Green (Snow Angels, Pineapple Express) to just leisurely unravel at its own pace. It's unusual in today's film. It's not for everyone, but for those with the patience there can be definite rewards here.

Contains spoiler: How in the world did this awful movie get good reviews? I kept waiting for it to go somewhere, but it never did. I wasn't looking for an "action" movie but this one almost put me to sleep. I regret wasting my time with this loser. Terrible acting as well. The most "action" was when the two boring characters (state of Texas employees) got drunk and threw thousands of dollars worth of state-owned equipment into a creek. This not only polluted the creek, but there was shown absolutely no consequences for their vandalism. During this drunken episode, instead of painting yellow stripes (their job) they painted yellow undulating lines all over the road and an outline of the "kid's" body as he lay in the road. This was never shown again, like it never happened. Ridiculous also was that the "kid" of the two got a 49-year-old woman pregnant. Get real!

It's 1988 and wildfires have ravaged the Texas countryside. Alvin (Paul Rudd) took a job to paint the lines on the road to get away from the world. He takes his girlfriend's slacker brother Lance (Emile Hirsch) along for the job. Alvin doesn't see much in the sex obsessed Lance, and Lance is chaffing at the isolation. This is a very small indie with basically the two main actors in most of the scenes. These are two good actors with a lot of sex talk, relationship struggle, and an aimless story. There are a couple of chuckles and a few interesting scenes. However they are too few and far between. It doesn't have the energy of a road movie or the poignancy of a relationship story. The last third turns up the heat, but it quickly becomes silly. I think there is a good half-movie here. The rest of this doesn't have enough energy. It's very subdue.