neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Gerry
	Gus Van Zant Matt Damon, Casey Affleck 2002		After mixed results with mainstream studio films such as his pointless shot-by-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho," director Gus Van Zant tries a return to the iconoclastic indie-movie ways that marked his earliest features "Drugstore Cowboy" and "My Own Private Idaho." Van Zant's "Gerry" stars Matt Damon, straight from carrying successful Hollywood fare such as "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "The Bourne Identity," and Casey Affleck, brother of Matt's pal, sometime co-star and business partner Ben Affleck. The casting may seem like an attempt to hedge one's bets, but "Gerry" is no conventional night at the movies. It's a story about friends who get lost on a desert hike in the American Southwest. As such, it's essentially a two-person dialogue with downbeat circumstances played out amid stark, arid scenery. The guys get further away from civilization and more alienated from each other as the crisis begins to take its toll on their bodies, spirits and companionship. "Gerry" is not an easy experience for the viewer. Still, it's well acted, well directed, and involving. For Van Zant, better this than a remake of "Psycho 2."