Two childhood friends (one with his first child on the way; the other unmarried) go camping together in this deliberately paced independent drama from Kelly Reichardt. On paper, the plot of 'Old Joy' is quite minimal, but there are a wealth of ideas addressed. Most prominent is the way nature has changed since the friends were young, with one commenting "you can't get real quiet anymore" while the other rues the fact that "there's trees in the cities and garbage in the forest" nowadays. Almost equally prominent though is the idea of changing friendships and how these two souls -- who were near identical in outlook and interests in their youths -- are now such different grown adults. There is also some suggestion that the unmarried friend likes other as more than just a friend, but this is not particularly well developed. The constant politically charged radio broadcasts as they drive along also comes across as underdeveloped, and while there is definitely a lot of interest going on here, the high points are quite far between. This is certainly not a film for all tastes, but the with the quality of the lead performances (where a lot is implied rather than stated out loud) and the unconventional yet oddly poetic ending, this is a difficult film to dislike. One does have to be in the mood though because it is very slow paced even if it provides a lot to ponder afterwards.
