Review of Prince Avalanche (2013) by Nick O — 14 Jan 2014

I'll be blunt -- *rolls up* -- I haven't seen a lick -- *licks paper* (I'm sorry, it was right there) -- of David Gordon Green's much-acclaimed early work. What I can say though about "Prince Avalanche" is something sure to be echoed by even the non-experienced: that writer-director Green's warm, funny and touching film about two southwestern traffic line painters sure beats the formula fuck out of the lazy studio likes of "The Sitter" and "Your Highness". However it isn't a complete regression. "Avalanche" hits with the kind of goofy profundity of both halves of Green's career, the (insert brilliant, articulate, incisive adjective to describe "George Washington", "All the Real Girls" and "Snow Angels") with a Malickian version of "Pineapple Express" and the dirty ingenuity behind HBO's mean classic "Eastbound & Down".

He struck gold by casting Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch in two of the actors' best performances to date. "PA" conjures up a lot of images of the road (duh doy) as a super-duper obvious metaphor for life and moving on and savoring the little things and forming and keeping relationships and being there for others or whatever. It's dreamy and endless but it's also -- well, less an end. "Prince Avalanche" is of course more about the journey than it is the destination. I know, such biting criticism. Sometimes Green'll just toss in sequences of kids chasing around chickens or interactions with women who may or may not be real simply for the sake that it looks cool.

And well, it is cool, aided by a fantastic score by Explosions in the Sky and David Wingo. It's also without a doubt the most personal thing the dude's done in forever. "Prince Avalanche" feels next to his heart. If you've ever lived a day, it'll come close to yours, too. (83/100).