Reviews

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  ★★★½ review by Rakestraw on Letterboxd

  "OH SHIT MAN! The geysers...AHHH! My favorite. Oh man, I love geysers." - Mitch (Earl Lynn Nelson)

  That's actually my favorite line so far this year. I absolutely love this guy's enthusiasm for geysers, you just don't witness too much geyserlove nowadays.

  Odd-couple road-trip buddy comedy with an old southern horndog, Mitch (Earl Lynn Nelson, and an old, soft-spoken Australian gentlemen, Colin (Paul Eenhoorn), enjoying themselves in the ridiculous beauty of Iceland's landscape.

  I was already a fan of Aaron Katz from Cold Weather and a fan of Paul Eenhoorn from This Is Martin Bonner...but now count me as a burgeoning fan of both Earl Lynn Nelson and Martha Stephens.

  It's a slight, inconsequential film but I found myself enjoying almost every minute of it. The only unenjoyable moments stem from Mitch's relentless dirty-old-man dialogue, constantly generating unease with the scenes with his nonstop banter regarding women, cocks, sex and whatnots...although the unusual cadence and rhythm to Nelson's voice dampens the negatives of his character. The way in which he talks is downright humorous.

  I enjoyed the montages, the 80s soundtrack, the framing choices along with the measured use of slow pull-ins and quickly changing the point of view.

  Paul Eenhorn needs to be in more films, as does Earl Lynn Nelson...actually let's make this a film series or a television series.

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  ★★★½ review by TajLV on Letterboxd

  This is writer-director Aaron Katz's fourth mumblecore film, and his first collaboration with co-director Martha Stephens. It departs from the genre somewhat by focusing on the relationship of two senior citizens as opposed to the usual 20-something characters. In this sense, it's refreshing and important, since most of the founders and early adherents of mumblecore are now in their 30s and 40s and dealing with very different issues than they did at the turn of the new millennium.

  In only his third acting role, Stephens' real life cousin Earl Lynn Nelson plays Mitch, a retired surgeon from New Orleans, while veteran actor Paul Eenhoorn is Colin, a retired banker who was born and raised in Australia. The two men were once married to sisters, thus making them brothers-in-law. However, Mitch has long since divorced his wife and their four sons have grown up and moved away, just as Colin lives alone -- widowed, remarried and divorced -- with an estranged son in his 30s living elsewhere.

  To create a bit of adventure and invigorate their solitary lives, Mitch buys two first-class tickets to Iceland and takes Colin along as his road trip companion. The film traces their travels in a rented Hummer from Reykjavík to the Great Geyser, the waterfalls at Gullfoss, natural hot springs and a luxury spa. They meet several people along the way, talk about their lives, smoke a few joints and gradually begin to relax and really enjoy themselves.

  In many ways, this film is nothing more than a travelogue, with some gorgeous scenery and no real plot. But it works as a character study of two men seeking identity beyond the careers and families that once defined them, as they struggle to come to grips with the solitude and unstructured freedom of their "golden years." Also, the acting bears the distinctive rawness and authenticity of unscripted dialog ... a trait which it's great to see mumblecore directors carrying into new territory. I quite enjoyed this little excursion.

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  ★★★★ review by tyosterman on Letterboxd

  I've been known to enjoy an "old men futzing around" picture and this is a good one; Icelandic travelogue as well. Super pleasant.

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  ★★★½ review by Zack Ford on Letterboxd

  Synopsis: Two old men travel through Iceland and have some fun.

  Thoughts about Land Ho!:
  
  - Land is just pleasant. It is fresh air whenever a movie doesn't feel a need to force in any drama to add a layer of depth to a story. This is a story of two retired men enjoying each other company and it does not need any other troubles or conflict to make this more interesting or entertaining.

  -I want to go to Iceland!

  -I'm sick of the old dirty man as a character. The life-loving and female-drooling old ex-doctor played by Earl Lynn Nelson would of been a more enjoyable character if he was just life loving, and not as obsessed with pointing out every phallic image. Penis talk and pot smoking does not make me feel these characters are hip fun versions of old men, it just makes me wonder why old characters can't be funny without being oversexed.

  Conclusion: Land Ho is wonderfully light and good-feeling. I just want to treat life like an adventure like these old men, as long as I do not become as pervy.

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  ★★★½ review by Wesley Emblidge on Letterboxd

  How is it that Paul Eenhoorn isn't making movies with bigger directors yet? Someone snap this guy up so he can win an Oscar, or at least be in movies that deserve him more than this. Land Ho! is fine but not worthy of Eenhoorn, who is just one of the most natural actors on screen working today. Someone introduce him to Richard Linklater or the Coens please.

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