Two friends are on a road tirip, and they take the scenic route. It turns out, that route is through the desert, where there isn't actually a whole lot of scenery. And... then they break down. So, it's a chance for two old friends to reconnect whether they want to or not.
A good portion of the movie is devoted to a character study, and it's a middle of the road one at best. Rather than concentrating on survival, the two guys bicker and argue for a while, but then they start to open up to each other. Josh Duhamel is the straight-laced husband and father who had dreams of being a rock star or something equally daft.
Dan Fogler is the guy who wants to be a writer but is stuck with writers' block and consequently doesn't have an income or a residence. It is in his truck that the two find themselves crossing the desert. He has a lot on his mind, and most of it is about Josh and how the two of them have grown apart since Josh left his fun girlfriend in favor of the woman he is now married to.
The two of them argue for a while, they make up and share stories, and they argue, and they make up, and they argue, and that is pretty much what the movie is about. The budget for most of the movie is mostly tied up in four cars and a whole lot of desert. I'm surprised they were able to keep my attention let alone entertain me, but entertain is what they did. The characters are deep enough and the dialog is interesting enough that I got interested in their stories and how they interacted. It made me think about being on a trip with one of my friends and how we might deal with similar circumstances.
Needless to say, we would have dealt with them a lot better.
The story is as basic as it gets
The dialog is very good
The acting is tremendous
Direction is good
Cinematography is very good
4.0/5