David Gordon Green somehow brings together the poetic sensibility of his independent art movies (e.g., George Washington, Undertow) and the humorous lowbrow non sequiturs of his studio comedies (Pineapple Express, The Sitter); the results are one of a kind and often weirdly moving. Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch play good-natured slackers from east Texas repainting an endless stretch of backwoods highway over the summer of 1988. Rudd’s character is a would-be philosopher who approaches his work as if it were a spiritual quest, while his partner (Hirsch) is an overgrown teenager in his mid-20s who thinks of nothing but partying and chasing girls. The natural settings look like paradise in Tim Orr’s delicate cinematography; against this backdrop, the men’s foolish behavior seems almost angelic. Imagine a remake of Roberto Rossellini’s The Flowers of St. Francis starring Cheech and Chong.
Prince Avalanche
R • 1 hour 34 min