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Less is more in this rueful study of male friendship undermined by the passing of time. Written and directed by Kelly Reichardt (River of Grass), Old Joy follows thirtysomethings Kurt and Mark (played by singer Will 'Bonnie Prince Billy' Oldham and Daniel London), who head out of Portland one weekend into Oregon's Cascade mountains. Notable for its visual beauty, its melancholic Yo La Tengo score and its subtle performances, it's an impressively understated and sensitively observed work.

The plot of Old Joy could be scribbled on the back of an envelope: a pair of old friends, who haven't seen one another for a considerable period of time, drive into the Mount Hood forest area in search of a remote hot springs. They get lost, camp out overnight, and the next day find their destination before heading back to the city. Reichardt skilfully conveys the awkwardness and hesitancy between her two protagonists. Their conversation is strained, with Mark, who is concerned about impending fatherhood, the more reticent. The hippyish, pot-bellied Kurt reminisces about "transformative experiences", presenting his own take on astrophysics and recollecting his dreams, from one of which comes the film's title. Over a campfire he confesses that, "I miss you Mark. I miss you real bad, I want to be friends again."

"IMPRESSIVELY UNDERSTATED"

Old Joy also connects the personal to the political. Mark and Kurt listen in despondent silence in the car to the progressive radio station Air America, where the despair of the Left in Bush's America is palpable. It's not just the friendship of these two individuals which may be coming to an end, it's the vanishing of alternative ways of living.

Old Joy is released in UK cinemas on Friday 26th January 2007.