The Loneliest Planet
The Loneliest Planet
| 25 May 2012 (USA)
The Loneliest Planet Trailers

Backpacking in the Caucasus Mountains, walking for hours, an engaged couple and their tour guide trade anecdotes and play games to pass the time, until a momentary misstep, that takes only two or three seconds, changes everything.

Reviews
GamerTab

That was an excellent one.

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Platicsco

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

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Chirphymium

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

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BelSports

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

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Roger Burke

The title was intriguing and sufficient for me to see this movie. An added impetus was a review I'd read in a major online media outlet. The bonus was - once again - seeing Gael Garcia Bernal: now as Alex, a back packer paired with Hani Furstenberg as Nica, his companion and soon wife-to-be. The overarching pleasure was the sublime scenery of the Georgian steppes where the movie was made.This is a visual story. There is minimum dialog, much of which is in Georgian (or some other language) that remains un-translated for viewers; which means you must carefully watch body language and context to elicit meaning. Only Nica and Alex maintain sporadic discussion and conversation (in English mostly) about what they are doing, thinking and planning. The remainder - much of the movie - is silent except for the sounds of solitary silence and an enigmatically plaintive score which is most often used with long static takes where little happens. Or so it would seem to the unwary viewer.After much walking, watching, listening and occasional talking, the back-packers and their guide, Dato (Bidzina Gudjabidze) suddenly meet another party of local people. A long conversation ensues between Dato and an older man of the other group. Suddenly and violently, a shocking act occurs which fundamentally alters the relationship between Nica and Alex. Thereafter, the mood, tone and truth of their relationship remains in visually serious jeopardy until the enigmatic end. Indeed, one could argue their relationship was gone, lost, even dead absolutely. But, the viewer cannot be certain.There are few movies like this one; which means very few will watch it through - perhaps in a similar way that few viewers found favor with Gerry (2002) in which two guys get lost in a wilderness and walk, and walk, and walk... but where one dies. Which metaphorically mirrors the perilous strain of the Alex-Nica relationship during the second and final act: Is mutual trust destroyed? Is love gone? Will the couple marry? The final scene leaves much to each viewer's interpretation and opinion.For me, the best aspect of the story is that much is said without words; which attests to excellent acting and direction. That should not disappoint the viewer - simply because in our each-daily interactions with others, we all rely at times upon a look, a gesture, a hint, a murmur, a cough or other non-verbal signal to communicate with a loved one. And look - truly look: if the walking tests your patience, just take in the gorgeous grandeur of the Georgian geography. And enjoy....And why The Loneliest Planet? Well, surely, that's the planet where you're all alone. Who ever wants to go there?Give this one eight out of ten. Recommended for all.April 6th, 2014.

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Dave Lucas

The Loneliest Planet - The sophomore effort from writer/director Julia Loktev, this film follows a young American couple as they take a trek through the man's ancestral homeland in Georgia (the nation, not the state)'s Caucus mountains. I am unfamiliar with the director's previous effort (2006's Day Night Day Night) but regret to say that The Loneliest Planet did not really inspire me to seek her earlier work out. The problem lies primarily with the screenplay, especially the first hour, which plays more like high quality excerpts from someone's vacation video than like a narrative picture. NOTHING happens. Okay, that's an exaggeration, there are a FEW bits of characterization and foreshadowing that lend to the storyline. However, with a run time of an hour and fifty odd minutes, the movie's first seventy-five could easily have been cut to thirty without detracting from the (minimal) story that the script sets out to tell. Without the lovely cinematography contributed by Inti Briones, the first half of the film would be practically unwatchable.Gael Garcia Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries, Y Tu Mama Tambien) and Hani Furstenberg (Yossi and Jagger) do respectable jobs as the vacationing couple, but are not really given enough dialog or activity to really show us what they are capable of. First time actor Bidzina Gujabidze actually outshines them both as their tour guide, his "local color" helping to bridge some of the more debilitatingly slow passages of the film, but even he is fighting an uphill battle. I can appreciate the point of Loktev's story, but it just didn't constitute a two hour movie. It might have made a nice short film...2 1/2 of 5 stars.Review brought to you by www.TheMovieFrog.com

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igettheirony

Anything done by Tom Bissell is a collassol failure. Pretentious crap. Horrible film. Makes me want to eat dog food.This has to be one of the worst films I've ever seen in my life. Nothing happens. Oh wow, look at the pretty scenery..nothing happens. The whole thing is pretty much bissell masterbating to himself while ripping off a Hemmingway short story. I don't recall any appreciation or mention of the fact that this film is based on a HEMMINGWAY STORY because these asshole loser hipsters ripped it off and decided to give bissell all the money so he can blow it on crack.Hurray America.You're some kind of crazy Island.You give Bissell the COcaine...and he pretends he's not gay.

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lesliejay63

Dear God... No. Just no...I wish I could have my 113 minutes back. I would use the time to clean my A/C vents (as I had planned to do until I got interested in this hunk of doo after reading the synopsis). Seriously, I regret wasting my time on this "movie". How disappointing. Nice scenery. The acting is fine. No plot. No message. No character development. Nothing. a bunch of nothingness. No, just NO. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING to this thing. Nada. Ziltch. I NEVER write reviews ...THAT is how much this thing sucked. I only wish to warn other poor, unsuspecting souls who might consider watching this. I am actually ANGRY! Yes, it is that bad.

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