This one popped up as recommended for me on Netflix. Paul Rudd (I Love You Man) and Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) both usually deliver solid performances, so I figured it would at least be good. It is a relatively heavy character study of the two of them and it was well done. The subject matter is a bit flat and slow, but the performances are great and the interactions of the characters comes across as genuine. Interestingly, there are effectively only 4 characters in the whole movie, and the majority of it is only the two main characters. However brief, even the secondary characters are interesting though. Set in 1988, the story revolves around the two main characters who, after one of the largest wildfires in US history, take jobs putting back up road markers and re-painting divider lines. The real goal of course, is to get away from "life", each for their own reasons.
Cinematography is unique and "art house" interesting, which is a bit unexpected from the director of
Pineapple Express which I literally hated (that's very rare for me). The music selection is quite good also from a band that I really like - Explosions in the Sky (presumably local? Movie is based in TX, they are from Austin). It is haunting and perfectly suited to the material and film style; I may have to pick this soundtrack up.
I enjoyed it, though I'll still call it a rental. Recommended.
