Gus Van Sant returned to his roots in experimental filmmaking with this offbeat feature, whose dialogue was entirely improvised by its two person cast. Two men named Gerry (played by Matt Damon and Casey Affleck) are driving through the desert regions of Death Valley, traveling towards an unknown destination. They pull over and set out on foot, presuming they're getting close to what they've come to find. Before long, Gerry and Gerry are both lost in an unforgiving desert without food, water, or
other provisions, and the harder they try to find their way back to their car, they only dig themselves deeper and deeper into the desert. Gus Van Sant originally began shooting Gerry in Argentina, but was soon dissatisfied with the weather and the terrain, opting to start over in California and Utah; the film premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
The two stars...[Casey Affleck and Matt Damon]...both playing characters named Gerry, wander across the desert for some reason, and if you enjoy watching them on any pretext, you'll probably enjoy this; if you don't, you won't.
You have to stay with Gerry, which starts out as a willful stunt, turns into a sadistic endurance test and ends up as something surprisingly affable and engaging.
Likely to sharply divide critics, Gerry goes back to his indie roots with a minimalist work that carries itself almost entirely through the awesome yet austere visuals and sounds.
Although the images from the film are poetic and are more fondly recalled in hindsight, in this case art film for art film's sake doesn't fly very high.
An incredibly unique viewing experience, Gerry really puts you into the mindset of the characters. It feels like you're slowly but surely losing your mind and desperately trying to find your way out of a maze. The shooting style is incredible, simplistic yet beautiful. I love Gus Van Sant's vision mixed with video, it
just seems to work perfectly. Matt Damon and Casey Affleck give about as good of performances as you could ask for, which is essential in a film where they are the main focus.
Add me to the "you don't get it" group because I realy fail to uderstand the brilliance of seeing two people just walking throughout the whole movie, Intellectual? Realistic? Not really, Gus Van Sant has proved that he can make great memorable movies like My Own Private Idaho but it seems that he's chosen not to
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