Mumblecore for (and with) seniors: Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens' LAND HO! hits theaters

In the elevator descending from the Sony building, just after one of the critics' screenings for LAND HO!, I glanced over at the young woman who was looking about as glum as I was feeling. "The thing about movies starring senior citizens," I suggested to her, "is that those seniors probably should have supporting, rather than leading, roles."  A smile came to her face, and she agreed -- at least about the film we had just seen. In a movie such as Philomena, Judi Dench easily commands the screen, as did the ensemble casts from feel-good schlock like RED and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

In the new film from mumblecore duo Aaron Katz (shown at left, whose Quiet City is my favorite of all the mumblecore movies I've seen) and Martha Stephens (shown below, who gave us the lovely Passenger Pigeons, a few years back), the two old men -- one, the other or both of whom are on-screen for the entire 95 minutes -- don't quite have the personalities to keep us en rapt. They're a little bit charming but a little

bit drab. Nor have Mr. Katz and Ms Stephens given them all that much interesting to say or to do.

Initially, it seems that the movie might take off, as it surprises us via a beginning that looks and sounds clever, professional, and even rather mainstream/ commercial. We meet our two protagonist brothers-in-law: Mitch (played by Earl Lynn Nelson, below, right) a elderly, overweight and overwrought (but still practicing) doctor, and the retired and considerably slighter and quieter Colin (played by Paul Eenhoorn, below, left).

These two are in some ways like oil and water, but there's a bond between them, made up perhaps of past history (they were married to two sisters, one of whom is now divorced and the other dead) that keeps them barely on track. Mitch has, without consulting Colin, purchased a pair of tickets for a trip to and tour of Iceland. Colin is clearly less well-off than Mitch and so is soon persuaded to tag along.

In Iceland they connect, coincidentally, with some younger female relatives of Mitch, of which little comes. And they have other small adventures, the very recapping of which is beginning to put me to sleep as I type this. They talk and spat and go places and do things of little consequence, and finally they connect with an attractive middle-aged women from Canada, to whom Colin is attracted and she to him. And that's it.

Some critics are over the moon about this little movie, but I had to pinch myself a few times to stay awake. The performances are as good as they can be, given the material, which is believable enough, but rather paltry. The same can be said for the characters of the two old men. I think we could learn a whole lot more about them than we do here.

I don't mean to imply that Land Ho! is a dead loss. There are funny bits scattered throughout. The two leads are pleasant enough, though Mr. Nelson wears out most of his welcome early on. There is little drive or propulsion to the movie, and though it is as "real" as you could want, it sometimes comes close to being as boring as hell.

The actress Alice Olivia Clarke (above) adds some much-needed oomph as that Canadian vacationer toward the end of the film. After awhile, though, watching the movie is like being made to sit through some very lengthy footage of someone else's vacation.

Land Ho! opens tomorrow, Friday, July 11, in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal, and in New York City at the Angelika Film Center and the Lincoln Plaza Cinema. In the weeks to follow, it will open all across the country. Click here then scroll down to see currently scheduled playdates, with cities and theaters.

Co-writer-director Aaron Katz will be at the Royal in 

Los Angeles this weekend to participate in Q&A’s after 

the 7:40 PM screenings on Friday and Sunday, July 11 and 13.

Aaron Katz is back with the genre-jumping, mumblecore-mystery COLD WEATHER

As the maker of my favorite mumblecore movie so far -- Quiet City -- Aaron Katz holds a place of esteem in TrustMovies' overcrowded heart. That film -- with its wonderfully dear characters whom the viewer wants to protect and nourish (rather than, as too often happens with m'core, shrug off) and its pristine, tactile cinematography in which even the NYC subway system manages to look gorgeous -- is a special favorite of mine in a genre that I don't overly appreciate. How could I not have great expectations for Mr. Katz' new one, COLD WEATHER? To some extent those expectations are fulfilled, even if, by the finale, they remain wanting.

I suspect that Mr Katz, shown at right, has more affection -- visually, at least -- for his adopted New York borough than for his hometown of Portland, Oregon, if what we see in his earlier and recent films are an indication. Portland (where I've been maybe once in my life, and as a boy) looks dank, gray and particularly uninviting -- even the seashore seems unappealing -- compared to the luster and beauty he finds in Brooklyn. The one truly spectacular scene (in a movie filled with some of the most drab locations imaginable) comes near the beginning as the film's main characters, a brother and sister, visit what looks like a landmark of sorts: the bridge backed by a huge waterfall, shown below.  We see this from afar, which is stunning enough, and then up close.

Brother Doug, our main character (played by Quiet City's Cris Lankenau) has come back home to reforge ties with his sister Gail (Trieste Kelly Dunn). Something of a misfit who so far has failed (or never finished) everything he's set his mind to, from school to employment, he seems initially needy and maybe even a little nuts. The scene in which he, completely unannounced, pulls his sis from her place of employment in the middle of the day to go see the sea treads close to defying credibility.

Things pick up with Doug takes a job in an ice factory and becomes pals with Carlos (Raul Castillo, from Paraiso Travel). They pick up further when his ex-girlfriend (Robyn Rikoon) appears, hooks up with Carlos and then involves them all in something mysterious -- which we won't go into here due to spoilers afoot. When the movie ventures into mystery territory -- which is Katz's choice and desire -- it comes alive on a whole new level but also never quite congeals.

Though our hero Doug claims an appreciation for and understanding of Sherlock Holmes, the mystery has the odd and slightly off-kilter feel of the Hardy Boys visiting a porno site. It's never clear just what is at stake or how serious or even dangerous the whole thing might be. Consequently, while some suspense and the off-hand thrill appear now and then, more questions are left unanswered going out than coming in -- which is not perhaps the best idea for mystery-genre satisfaction. As for the bro/sis conflict/resolution, this, too, remains somehow out of our grasp by virtue of our not really knowing enough to care -- which eventually translates into not caring enough to want to know more. The details chosen here for exposition are more often flabby  than vital or specific. They don't resonate nor help expand characterization.

Still, the movie remains never less than  loosey-goosey pleasant, and its cast is certainly game. Mr. Lankenau, with his beady eyes, open face and scruffy, semi-beard, makes an interesting protagonist; Castillo is an asset who might have been made better use of (he disappears well before the finale), while Dunn and Rikoon are respectively solid and mysterious.

Cold Weather (which open in the midst of our own), from IFC Films, begins performances this Friday, February 4, in NYC at the IFC Center, and comes to On-Demand via Sundance Selects on February 9.