The REEL Addict 

Those of you who went to check out PINEAPPLE EPRESS this past weekend may have noticed a new name amongst the usual Judd Apatow suspects involved with the film: the director, David Gordon Green.

It’s possible some of you may have never heard of the guy before, so if you haven’t now would be a great time to catch up on the work of one of the best directors currently around. His films focusing on the deceptively quiet drama of small town existence are some of the more emotionally palpable, powerful, and often devastating films of the last few years.

His first film, GEORGE WASHINGTON, established Green as a new dramatic voice, one with a calm, reassuring style that seems to absorb the events of a film (often with lushes cinematography), rather than creatively guiding them or observing them. It also introduced his auteur like fixations on small-town life and the often painful transition from emotional adolescence to adulthood, ones he investigates with a tone that’s almost like gentle, quiet poetry. That’s probably why the film earned itself a Criterion Edition, a confirmation of a blooming auteur if there ever was one (well, okay, maybe not always).

That was especially the case in his subsequent film, ALL THE REAL GIRLS, in which a small-town lothario (Paul Schneider) falls in love for the first time with the sister (Zooey Deschanel) of his friend. What transpires in that film remains one of the sweetest, truest, and often painfully true portrayals of the emotional rollercoaster of young love I’ve seen in a movie.

Next up was something slightly different: UNDERTOW. Even though it is perhaps my least favorite film of his, it nevertheless is an effective Southern gothic film, and a more than loving homage to Charles Laughton’s 1955 film, THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER. For those of you looking for something from Green that’s a little more intense and thrilling, but still maintains his artistic interests (it’s another film about young kids having to grow up fast in the face of tragedy) this may be your film.

If not, this year he blessed us with SNOW ANGELS (you can read my review here). One of the best films of the year (see here), the film is a much darker perhaps than some of his other work, “notable for its unwillingness to turn away from the ugly imperfections, emotional complexity, and rubble of human relationships,” and yet still somehow filled with a certain hope and sweetness, however faint.

If it isn’t clear by now, when I saw Green is one of our best directors, what I really mean is he’s one of our best dramatic directors. That’s why most of us who have admired him for a long time were somewhat flabbergasted that he would sign on to direct a mainstream stoner, wrong-man, buddy film like PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. That also means if that film is all you know, you might find yourself somewhat overwhelmed if you throw yourself into Greens’ canon. If you’re open to good indie dramas though, you’re going to be richly rewarded.