| Gerry | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Gus Van Sant |
| Produced by | Dany Wolf |
| Written by | Casey Affleck Matt Damon Gus Van Sant |
| Starring | Casey Affleck Matt Damon |
| Editing by | Casey Affleck Matt Damon Gus Van Sant |
| Distributed by | THINKFilm |
| Release date(s) | January 12, 2002 (Sundance) February 14, 2003 (United States) |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3.5 million |
| Box office | $236,266 (USA) |
Gerry is a 2002 film directed by Gus Van Sant, starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, who also co-wrote the film with Van Sant. It is the first film of Van Sant's "Death Trilogy", three films based on deaths that occurred in real life, and is succeeded by Elephant and Last Days.
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Gerry is about two hiking companions who both go by the name "Gerry." "Gerry" is also a slang term used throughout the misadventure by both protagonists, meaning "to screw up."[1] Van Sant revealed in interviews that Damon and Ben and Casey Affleck already had used the term before the movie had been named.[1]
The plot of the film shares some commonalities with the events surrounding the death of David Coughlin, who was killed by his friend after the two became lost in Rattlesnake Canyon in New Mexico.
The characters drive to a remote location to hike at a site marked "Wilderness Trail". As they start, they see some other hikers passing by. After some walking, talking, and an impromptu foot race, they decide to head back. Before long, they realize that they are lost. That night, they build a campfire.
Over the next couple of days, the two hikers wander through the wilderness without food or water. They try splitting up for awhile, they try to retrace their steps, they try to follow some animal tracks, all to no avail. They grow increasingly irritated with each other as the situation becomes dire.
They eventually find themselves slowly walking, mostly in silence, through a desert. They finally collapse due to fatigue and dehydration. The weaker of the two (Affleck) proclaims that he is "leaving," and reaches towards Damon's character. Damon's character rolls on top of Affleck and wordlessly strangles him before collapsing again.
After some time, Damon's character awakens and discovers that a highway is not far away. In the final shot, he is traveling by car with a family, whom he watches in stunned silence.
It was shot in a semi-improvised style with a small crew in Argentina, Death Valley, and the Utah Salt Flats, and is dedicated to the memory of Ken Kesey.
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