I watched this movie yesterday night and I have been thinking about it since then. It is unconventional and difficult to describe without giving spoilers.
It is an indie black and white movie, taking place over a period of two- three days. The characters are on the road, changing places and meeting new people. Everyone they meet is ordinary but they come out as weird and crazy in their own ways.
There is a lot of dialogue which is absurd, funny, in a clerks kind of way, but still realistic. Unlike some reviews here stated, it is scripted and not improvised.
The characters are going back and forth between cynical nihilism and idealistic romanticism. It is a requem for the end of youth, they have to settle down to petty adulthood which they despise. Yet the movie is life-affirming, like a tragedy, which makes it good.
There are many themes in the movie: love, heartbreak, sexual attraction, transition from youth to settled adult life, family, self-image, ideals and realities. The success of the movie is in the way it shows how these themes effect each other in each individual in a very realistic way. There are many connections weaved in a very economical way.
At the end everything, all the dialogue comes together, and the way they acted is justified and accounted for. It is tragic: kind of a sad story but it doesn't give up on life. No loose threads. It is incredible the way they were able to convey so much about these characters in such an efficient way, I felt like I watched all and everything relavant to their story.
