Gus Van Sant revisits the milieu of alienated, inarticulate youth, the milieu of his Elephant, only this time it’s Portland skateboarders and a single impromptu killing, making up in gruesomeness what it lacks in multitude. You should know, from past experience, to expect it to be good-looking (the virtuoso Christopher Doyle, cinematographer, shooting in an old-fashioned 4:3 aspect ratio), and also to expect it to be boring, pretentious, and arty: a good deal of gratuitous slow-motion, some grainy lyrical interludes of ecstatic skateboarding, and a nonlinear, looping-back-around storyline. “I’m writing this out of order,” explains the journal-writing protagonist in voice-over. “Sorry, I didn’t do so well in Creative Writing.” The unknown actors are highly credible, notwithstanding the protagonist’s uncomprehending reading of his own prose. Gabe Nevins, Lauren McKinney, Jake Miller, Daniel Liu. (2008) — Duncan Shepherd
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