Not droll, not wry, not weary, not whimsical. There’s a perfect adjective out there waiting to describe this film and I’m just not wordsmith enough to come up with it. A lovely little film that explodes into pomposity in the final 30 minutes. Do yourself a favor and watch up until then. (And don’t mind that the catalystic event of the film doesn’t make sense. A bank robber comes to a town to meet up with conspirators to discover the only hotel is closed, so he shacks up with an old man. If his buddies live nearby, he can’t stay with them?) (Also, since I am nitpicking, the look of the film, cold and blue, is beautiful, but I wonder if it is the right choice? Because it is the obvious choice. And the music — straight out of the Wim Wenders playbook. “Paris, Texas” was 20 years ago — maybe it is time to find a new soundtrack for drifter characters?)
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Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.