...the landscape it maps is as much spiritual as it is physical, and the personal story it tells is inescapably political...
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08/05/06
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Old Joy (2006)
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Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:82
Fresh:69
Rotten:13
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: A serene, melancholy beauty permeates this meditative portrait of deep friendship and faded glory.
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Reviews for Old Joy
Old Joy is as dull and doomed as the men's friendship.
11/30/06
It plays for a scant 73 minutes, but if feels as long as a Wagner opera.
11/30/06
Top CriticOld Joy may be built around a road trip, but it's also a movie about two roads -- and two souls -- diverging.
03/15/07
Top CriticOld Joy is an accurately observed slice of that moment between postadolescence and parenthood, when friends cling or scatter, and circumstances force buried feelings to the fore.
11/11/06
Old Joy doesn't try for too much, but its subtle victories leave plenty to savor.
09/22/06
Notable for its visual beauty, its melancholic Yo La Tengo score and its subtle performances, it's an impressively understated and sensitively observed work.
01/26/07
The movie explores the increasingly coarse line between nostalgia and acceptance for the way things are, without exclamatory revelation and uproarious self-pity. It's Sideways for realists.
10/27/06
Top CriticClick to read the article
04/23/09
A worthy attempt at a worthy topic.
11/28/06
What makes it fascinating is director Kelly Reichardt's single-minded focus on a certain type of relationship.
03/21/06
There are whispers of bigger themes present -- the changing nature of friendship, the co-opting of '90s "alternative" culture into the mainstream -- but, for the most part, much of what you get out of the film depends what you bring to it.
02/23/07
An unassuming, minimalist gem that shows how less can be much, much more.
01/26/07
Fresh as spring water and warm as sunlight, it steeps us in the beauties we will always miss, if we keep dividing the world into winners and losers.
11/02/06
Top CriticA subtle, elegant meditation on friendship and identity in a cultural moment where honest cultivation of either is treated like a luxury.
02/01/08
Click to read the article
09/23/06
Annoying, blank, and bereft of any narrative arc "Old Joy" has nothing familiar or enchanting to recommend it.
04/21/09
The difference between Old Joy and most other recent indies: it matches its rhythms and visuals to its story, rather than simply telling a story on film.
10/19/06
Subdued, artistic, with beautifully nuanced performances that are as true as they are often elusive of commercial triumph.
03/09/07
You may find yourself asking whether anything's going to happen. But for those who can tolerate a slow-brewing movie, [director] Reichardt's work provides sufficient rewards.
03/09/07
Top CriticLatest News for Old Joy
September 21, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Jackass" Kicks; "King" Is Dethroned; "Fearless" Is Action-Packed; "Flyboys" Is Grounded
This week at the movies, we've got antisocial behavior ("Jackass: Number Two," with Johnny Knoxville and the gang), hell-raising politicos ("All The King's... More...
August 24, 2006:
Critical Consensus: "Invincible," "Worms" Score; "Idlewild," "Beerfest" Mixed
This week at the movies, we've got four underdog stories. An average Joe tries to play pro football ("Invincible," starring Mark Wahlberg), the new kid in school tries... More...
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