A Little Film About Friendship

Probably one of my favourite movies by Joel from his '12 movies in 12 months' venture this year so far. It feels simple, but real. Probably because a lot of what is said in the film is genuine. It felt very realistic to me. Some of the scenes are a bit awkward in how it's a back and forth that doesn't always feel like it's real time, but that's really only a few conversations. Other than that there's not a lot to say about it, but to me that's good. Watching this almost felt like a sort of meditation. It was a relaxing film to watch while I snacked on chips before washing it all down with a cold soda.

A Little Film About Friendship Joel and Trent are the kind of duo that's just fun to watch, no matter what they're doing-even if, truthfully, there's not much actual substance to this documentary.

A documentary should tell something, and on that note, Joel has made one before that I absolutely loved: I Don't Know Where I'm Going. What makes his documentaries so engaging is the visual quality and the precision of the staging, even though-technically-there shouldn't be any staging at all. But let's be real: to film that shot of them walking among the rocks, Joel had to go ahead, set up the tripod, hit record, walk back, and then do the scene. So, it's a documentary that's not quite a documentary. And that doesn't necessarily make it any less compelling-he's a filmmaker, and when documenting his life, he doesn't handle the camera in the raw, unpolished way Caleb does. He applies his own style. In the end, it's closer to docu-fiction than pure documentary.

Shot/reverse shot means the scene was filmed at least twice. And that's fine. The issue is that the one genuinely interesting discussion-the one that transcends just watching two funny guys goofing around-is almost thrown away. At one point, on the beach, Joel says, "Before, when we had fun, we just had fun. Now we're still having fun, but there's almost a work aspect to it-because our job is to film ourselves having fun. So even when the cameras are off, that thought lingers in the background." And that's such a fascinating realization because it applies to so many people. So many, for one reason or another, end up monetizing their relationships. Some don't even get actual money out of it-just attention, which is still a form of exploitation. And yet, this insight is given to us from behind, almost in passing. Meanwhile, a much less universal thought-about how Joel hates the city he's in but loves the people he's with-is delivered front and center.

Which... fine, whatever. But for the love of God, at least manage your shutter speed. What's up with those flickery lines?