Produced by Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, and Sara Murphy
Written by Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens
With: Earl Lynn Nelson, Paul Eenhoorn, Karrie Crouse, Elizabeth McKee, Alice Olivia Clarke, and Emmsjé Gauti
Release Date: 19 January 1987
Color/Aspect: Color / 1.85 : 1
Editing: Aaron Katz
Music: Keegan DeWitt
Runtime: 95 min
Release Date: 19 January 1987
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Color
Writer/directors Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz craft a charming, low-key movie in Land Ho, a gentle adventure tale about two ex-brothers-in-laws on the cusp of old age who take a trip to Iceland to get their groove back. The film deftly eschews the maudlin, cutesy, or condescending trappings that infect so many films about older folks. The two leads, Paul Eenhoorn and Earl Lynn Nelson create authentic, lived-in characters who are memorable and funny without ever dissolving into poor-man’s Jack Lemmon/Walter Matthau shtick. The minimal plot and picturesque scenery allow the audience to absorb subtly rendered themes of friendship, aging, loneliness, and regret without ever loosing the buoyant feeling of discovery and love of life. The film arrives just one week before the American release of Steve Coogan’s and Rob Brydon’s sequel to The Trip, and may remind you a bit of that film as these two men travel from one scenic locale to another eating great meals along the way. While there are fewer comical sequences of dueling movies star impressions than in The Trip (I say few because there is some of this banter in Land Ho), this film feels more far substantial. I came away from Land Ho with a feeling that I’d actually been on a journey rather than just watched home videos from someone else’s.
Produced by Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, and Sara Murphy
Written by Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens
With: Earl Lynn Nelson, Paul Eenhoorn, Karrie Crouse, Elizabeth McKee, Alice Olivia Clarke, and Emmsjé Gauti
Release Date: 19 January 1987
Color/Aspect: Color / 1.85 : 1
Editing: Aaron Katz
Music: Keegan DeWitt
Runtime: 95 min
Release Date: 19 January 1987
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Color
★★★★★
One of the 5000 greatest films. Usually only awarded after repeat viewings, so there are more five-star films from decades past than recent years.
★★★★☆
An excellent film. Possibly one of the 5000 and certainly worthy of repeated viewing.
★★★☆☆
A good film well worth seeing. Films listed at the top of this ranking could end up one of the 5000.
★★☆☆☆
A disappointment, an interesting failure, or just a bad movie. Still, maybe worth seeing: I often enjoy the top two-star films in a given list more than the bottom three-star films.
★☆☆☆☆
A bad, rant-worthy film. Should be avoided regardless of hype or talent involved.
☆☆☆☆☆
One of the worst films.
