DVD Review: Tedium Overtakes Journey of ‘The Loneliest Planet’

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Average: 3 (1 vote)

CHICAGO – “The Loneliest Planet,” recently released on DVD, will try even the most patient and adoring of art movie lovers as its deliberate, plodding pace pushes out all possibilities of character involvement. To be blunt, by the time I felt like I was asked to care, it was too late. There’s some stunning cinematography and Gael Garcia Bernal is simply one of the most interesting actors of his generation but this effort is dull to the nth degree.

HollywoodChicago.com DVD rating: 2.5/5.0
Rating: 2.5/5.0

The first hour of “The Loneliest Planet” is clearly designed to create realism that will allow us to emotionally invest in the characters and the inner turmoil they face in a barren landscape in the second hour. While the cinematography is stunning and the natural, unforced interplay between the stars feels genuine, the film drags in unacceptable ways (especially at home…on the big screen, the striking imagery might have been enough to carry audience investment). When the characters are faced with crisis in the second hour, which is again largely internal after an instinctual action on the part of one of them, the film picks up thematically but I found it too little, too late.

The Loneliest Planet was released on DVD on February 26, 2013
The Loneliest Planet was released on DVD on February 26, 2013
Photo credit: Sundance Selects

Synopsis:
One of the best reviewed films of the year; Alex (Gael Garcia Bernal, Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Motorcycle Diaries) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg, Campfire, Yossi & Jagger) are young, in love and engaged to be married. The summer before their wedding, while backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia, they hire a local guide to lead them on a camping trek. Venturing into the stunning wilderness, the trio’s peaceful adventure takes a dark turn as a subtle rift opens between Alex and Nica, quickly widening until it threatens to undo everything the couple believed about each other and themselves. Along with their ever-present guide, the young travelers find themselves journeying not only into a landscape that’s both overwhelmingly open and frighteningly closed, but also into the farthest depths of their own understanding. A unique examination of the parameters of love, The Loneliest Planet is a tale of betrayal, identity, failure, and the ambiguities of forgiveness. The New Republic calls writer/director Julia Loktev “one of the most radical, intelligent, and talented filmmakers now at work.”

Special Features:
o Behind The Scenes Documentary
o Gujabidze’s Mountaineering Photos
o Trailer

“The Loneliest Planet” stars Gael Garcia Bernal & Hani Furstenberg. It was directed by Julia Loktev. It was released on DVD on February 26, 2013.

HollywoodChicago.com content director Brian Tallerico

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

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