GERRY

Year: 2002
USA: ThinkFilm
UK: Pathe Distribution
Cast: Matt Damon, Casey Affleck
Director: Gus Van Sant
Country: USA
USA & UK: 103 mins
USA Rated: R for language
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language
USA Release Date: 14 February 2003 (Limited Release - Los Angeles and New York)
UK Release Date: 22 August 2003

Synopsis

Best buddies, both nick-named Gerry (Damon, GOOD WILL HUNTING, STUCK ON YOU and Affleck, OCEAN'S 11), have wandered off the trail on and are certain that the freeway is just over this hill or that - or at least that they'll be able to see it from the next crest. As they walk, they end up wandering through beautiful, barren, and surreal landscapes, gradually growing more and more lost and disorientated.

They walk with purpose, almost enjoying the adventure, even making light of the situation when Affleck scrambles up a rock outcropping to scout the area and can't find his way back down. As Damon rakes the ground with his foot to build a feeble "dirt mattress" to break his friend's fall, they snicker and bicker and troubleshoot the situation, debating the odds of a broken ankle if he jumps.

Without provisions and water, the pair's simple trek turns into a life-and-death journey that pushes the young men to their mental and physical limits. Over several days of wandering through increasingly uninhabited terrain that looks less and less like the scrub brush where they parked the car, they gradually become dispirited, dehydrated ghosts of their former selves, slowly, weakly, silently shuffling across never-ending expanses of hard white sand.

Gerry is an open-ended and minimalist drama about identity, fate and the harsh realities of the wilderness experience. The boys must battle against the elements of desert as well as their battle against human nature. Set against the backdrop of the stunning Californian desert, this hypnotic movie moves along with hardly any dialogue but flashes of dark humour and subtle improvisation

DVD EXTRAS

Certificate: 15
Running Time: 96 Minutes
DVD Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Widescreen 16x9)
DVD Sound Quality: 5.1 Dolby
DVD Subtitles: English for the Hearing-Impaired
DVD Features: Trailers for Cypher, In The Spun, Miranda,
Dead End and Stuck On You