An experimental exercise from director Gus Van Sant, who wrote the screenplay with stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, Gerry follows two friends as they get lost on a desert trail and encounter thirst, desperation and … ? Well, not exactly transcendence, although that’s clearly what the movie is aiming for. Some moments approach such a state – the barren landscapes are overpowering in their stark beauty, while the lengthy sequences of the two men trudging along in silence create a hypnotic rhythm – but it’s a mood the movie isn’t quite able to sustain. Van Sant and his actor-screenwriters seem to realize this, for there’s a sudden stab at
conventional drama in the film’s climax that ends things on a false note. Gerry is only for the adventurous – even if the filmmakers can’t really be counted among them.
