Stronger

While waiting for his girlfriend (Tatiana Maslany) to complete the 2013 Boston Marathon, Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) lost his legs in the terrorist bombing. Struggling to rehabilitate and adjust to his now onerous and often very painful life, he finds himself unwillingly thrust into the spotlight while his ordeal wears heavily on those around him. David Gordon Green's treatment of this true to life story is all about the two excellent lead performances which get thwarted by stupid supporting characters, dumb comic relief bits, and the expected inspirational mushy fodder in the second act, all elements that would have proved completely dispensable to the story.

** 1/2 out of ****

Joe

An ex-con (Nicolas Cage), running from his past and volatile temper while remaining well liked in the community, takes on a 14 year old boy to his tree removal crew and finds himself becoming his protector from an abusive, alcoholic father (Gary Poulter) and other predatory trash who inhabit their impoverished Southern locality. Following a series of crummy big budget comedies and the misguided, attempted recoil Prince Avalanche, Joe (adapted from Joe Brown’s book by Gary Hawkins) is David Gordon Green’s successful return to the kind of rurally set indies on which he built his name. In addition to reasserting Green’s abilities, it also serves as evidence that Cage is still capable of contributing a commanding lead performance. The rest of the film is wonderfully and knowingly flavored, with Sheridan excellent as the determined, wide-eyed youth and Poulter, Ronnie Gene Blevins, and the rest of the ensemble particularly well cast.

*** 1/2 out of ****

Prince Avalanche

A nerdy, self-sufficient highway road painter (Paul Rudd) takes on his girlfriend's slovenly, obnoxious brother (Emile Hirsch) as as an assistant and the two work, bond, argue, and cope with the heartaches of love amid the solitude of their desolate Central Texas locations. After several pocket padding detours into inane, big budget studio comedies, David Gordon Green returns to the type of film by which he first built his name as a director, an observant and picturesquely filmed minimalist story. Here his well-established leads are very hard to take, even in goofball roles, and probably do him a disservice where unknowns would have possibly sufficed. Green also pulls off a curious feat where not only does it seem that we are offered half a movie, but also that it feels way, way overlong at that.

All the Real Girls

A lothario in a small North Carolina town starts what may be his first meaningful relationship with a young girl home from boarding school, much to the chagrin of her older brother who is also his best friend. All the Real Girls is the sophomore outing for David Gordon Green. Following George Washington, he took all the elements he successully used in that film while ironing out the ones that didn't work so well and the result is an extremely satisfying film where he seems to have honed his directorial skills. Tim Orr's cinematagrophy once again beautifully captures the small town locations and landscapes. The characters in the story are captivating as we come to care about them. Paul Schneider who also cowrote the story is wonderful as the goofy yet charming ladies man, and the adorable Zooey Deschanel does fine work in an early role as the apple of his eye. Shea Whigham gives a nice performance as Deschanel's older brother, Danny McBride is humourous as a member of the crew, and Patricia Clarkson gives her usual sunny performance as Schneider's free spirited mom. While I felt that some of the scenes in the film didn't feel right, the movie as a whole is a wonderful slice of life as well as a touching love story. With his second feature, David Gordon Green seemed to have found his directorial footing, which he would demonstrate again in films like Undertow and Snow Angels. Hopefully he will give up the big budget comedies which he has engaged in recently and return to the small town low budget films which he makes so wonderfully.

George Washington

In a depressed southern town, a band of preadoloscent friends reflect on their ambitions and relationships. When one of them is killed in a tragic accident, the rest of the group covers it up and responds to the situation in different ways. George Washington is the debut film of David Gordon Green, the director of such powerful indies as Undertow and Snow Angels. This film is a beautifully filmed and often poetic and recalls the work of Terrence Malick with its stunning visuals, colorful palette, and detracted narration. At the same time, where Malick's films manage to hold interest even in their minimalism, George Washington suffers from an aimlessness and doesn't know what it wants to be about. Instead of a film, what has resulted is something resembling a meditation. Still there is much to admire in the film, and the performances from the child actors as well as the adults are moving. The worthwhile elements of this film would be utilized in Green's later work which demonstrate a better ability at storytelling.