Gasoline Rainbow

I went into this blind and in the end I rather enjoyed it.

The nature of the movie makes any viewer older than the main characters feel compelled to criticise it and all the while, it is difficult to ever genuinely feel entitled to do so. In a simple sense, the characters are drawn to be inarticulate and somewhat 2 dimensional, but then people at 17/18 tend to be like this.

In this sense the film feels more relatable, although the plot feels wholly unrealistic, even for however simple it all is. 5 kids who have just finished high school decide to go on a road trip to the pacific coast 500 miles away? Speak to and trust every stranger in sight? Don't stare at their phone constantly? Yeah I don't think so.

Themes of being alienated, feeling different, and having no community and not knowing what they want to do are all painfully ironic when they seem to relate so strongly to each other and to literally every person they meet and feel capable to venture out wherever they want. The characters almost represent the antithesis of what they feel afflicted by. To be sure, I am confident this was deliberate albeit on the nose.

Still, the film remains both thematically, and visually inspired, and optimistic. Most of the characters are not developed much, but I suppose this is the point. Lots of different imagery, and juxtapositions of music make the film feel different in a characteristically "independent" sorta way. For what it is worth, since I don't watch many movie like this I enjoyed that component.

I don't know in what way this is meant to reflect the zeitgeist or the current concerns and interests of young people when I swear this has been the story of the youth since time began. Similarly, I question who this movie is really made for given it is a streaming on Mubi- a service I estimate most young people don't have, the lack of character development and generally easy roles for each of the characters makes it less relatable still to an older audience.

Still I want to acknowledge that the attempt made to reflect the reckless and uncertain feelings of being a teenager are commendable. Shaky camera handling, very wide angles as well as very intimate angles all present an obscured moment which seems to leave as soon as it is noticed.

I would recommend this bearing in mind about 30-40% of the time it feels like a commercial for Abercrombie and Fitch.

A part of me also really thinks this could have achieved greater heights if it followed the same plot for about 30-40 minutes and then become a blockbuster horror slasher movie. That might of been neat.

"...small-town Oregon who, with high school in the rearview, decide to embark on one last adventure: to make it to a place they've never been -the Pacific coast, 500 miles away."

I don't need everyone who writes about a place to literally be from that place, but maybe a glancing familiarity would be useful, no?

Just look at a map of Oregon. There isn't a town, and there isn't a route, that would make the ocean 500 miles away. It's a bizarre detail to center the entire story around, especially considering these kids could have been from any town further inland.

I don't need 100% accuracy to be invested in a story, but if you're trying to tell an authentic story about a certain part of the world, how can i trust your take on the subject when you don't even know the basic lay of the land?

This is cinema today, with few means but an urgent and necessary narrative verve, an unrepeatable moment to capture and make dance in the eyes of the spectator. This is a very naïve road movie that goes nowhere, but that's exactly the point. The directionless escape, that botched excitement that exudes sublime and releases the energy of adolescence, of the future without a destination, of the necessary escape. The Ross brothers are attached to their characters, which are an offshoot of themselves, almost, in a maniacal and adorable way, they apply their documentary experience and their authorial sensitivity to a sensitive and delicate subject such as adolescence, always and forever. Always. The truth is in the moment, the escape action is an instinct, the direction is optional, the important thing is the journey and the sensations it gives you, or will give you in the future and the Ross brothers know how to shape this chaos of videos and photos of cell phones, lo-fi digital footage and budding adolescence with thrilling artistry and poetry, letting you dive into the lives of these kids with a rare vitality. A precious and emotional film to reconcile with the present.

Man, i really hate to leave a negative review for a cast of kids and an indie flick on a budget, so i'm sorry everybody, but this movie was like watching some random persons iphone's camera roll and just as uneventful as you could imagine that to be.

I have a hard time believing there was any kind of script or game plan to this "movie". No real thought provoking dialogue between cast members throughout their journey. No real meaningful conversations. Nothing interesting emotionally or visually ... just two hours of totally random 'happenings' and word vomit as these kids went from the east side of oregon to the west.

Along the way they encounter a bunch of other (trashy) people while someone sits back and records all these interactions. It's really that basic and about as boring as you would think.

There was absolutely no need to drag this out for two hours. An hour and fifteen minutes would've been more than enough for this movie/doc.

Also of note, it made oregon, one of the most beautiful places in America, seem super crappy and trashy, which it's just not.

Very disappointing to say the least.

If you have something else you were considering, i'm 99% sure that will be better than this.

That was pretty cute but was long at the same time. If u want to impress ir something like that don't watch with that expectation, I wanted be on the journey when I watch it, chill.

Life is not bad as u see there is more out there, I saw a lot with all my journey but I know there are more like this guys showed me.

I see a lot of bad review people hate it just I didn't understand what they expected, the movie tell you chill but as I understand from your review you didn't.

I mean yea maybe would be better but I don't think they wanted show as something better and impressive I think they exactly showed us what they want and it was chill.