• It’s another gorgeous travelogue road trip wenders film with photography from Robby Mueller (dp of dead man, many of the jarmusch films actually, and worked with Von Trier on breaking the waves and dancer in the dark) even if it isn’t half as beautiful as kings of the road (also shot by Mueller)
  • Sum of the parts are tremendous—we have a great lead performance from veteran supporting actor and this generation’s ward bond harry dean stanton. It’s written by sam shepard and ry cooder does the acoustic minimal music
  • Rustic photography of the southwest—plenty of road signs (ongoing visual motif) form into a slow burn poetic film about human relationships (with brother, son he abandoned, and wife who left him).
  • Dean Stanton is completely silent the first 25 minutes
  • It’s certainly meditative and at times it seems quite aimless
  • The opening helicopter establishing shot sure looks like ford’s monument valley
  • I love the reoccurring shot of harry dean Stanton just appearing in the frame from camera left or camera right- happens a few times to start the film (see above) almost as if he’s being photographed out of happenstance
  • Stockwell appears in a Stetson baseball cap in front of artificial background—it’s an odd statement—maybe showing he’s a fake dad to dean stanton’s son
  • Standout scene of dialogue in front of a gorgeous freeway overpass
  • Narrative influenced rain man (brother taking take of other brother with issues—can’t get on plane) and forrest gump– the dean Stanton character for the first 25 minutes is like the running version of forrest gump
  • Slow-burn road trip movie
  • Must-See