An early Kelly Reichardt, Old Joy is a stereotypical ‘American indie’ – slow and introspective with little in terms of action. Yet the weekend road trip is as beguiling as it is engaging.
Two friends reunite for a camping trip in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Mark (Daniel London) is married with a child on the way whilst Kurt (Will Oldham) remains an aimless drifter. Lives lived differently, the two look for common threads since the earlier days of their friendship. Few words are spoken, the forest itself instilled with an ever-present silence.
A quiet, almost meditative experience, Old Joy celebrates introspection, the fragments of moments as the two look internally and externally to identify the meaning of friendship.
Rating: 64%
Director: Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, Wendy & Lucy)
Writer: Jonathan Raymond (First Cow, Wendy & Lucy), Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, Wendy & Lucy)
Main cast: Daniel London (Synecdoche New York, The Report), Will Oldham (Wendy & Lucy, Ghost Story), Tanya Smith (Carol, Wendy & Lucy)
An Opinion or Two 