Aaron Katz is probably one of the brightest, most unsung heroes that current American indie cinema has to offer right now. Transcending his scrappy roots in the much-maligned “mumblecore” genre, his last film, the droll 2010 detective riff Cold Weather, should’ve brought him a lot more attention than it did. The odd couple comedy-drama Land Ho!, co-directed with Martha Stephens, finds Katz venturing into a more conventional, accessible zone — that doddering-fogies-doing-and-saying-the-darndest things genre (something one might see De Niro slumming in these days) — but it’s a low-key, leisurely paced charmer all the same, featuring a pair of performances guaranteed to win your heart.
Earl Lynn Nelson’s ribald, foul-mouthed doctor Mitch, all blustery Southern drawl, is the showier of the two — the 72-year-old actor, only in his third film role, is clearly having a ball dishing out a steady stream of laugh-out-loud one-liners (“Lighthouses remind me of rock hard cocks with no balls”). But Aussie Paul Eenhorn, as Mitch’s soft-spoken brother-in-law, does subtle, understated work to counter Nelson’s bawdiness, lifting the film from just being another mismatched buddy comedy and thoughtfully balancing the underlying disillusionment of aging with “getting their groove back” adventurousness.
The cinematography by Katz regular Andrew Reed is irresistibly picturesque, bringing out the spacious beauty of Iceland’s topography, while Keegan DeWitt’s upbeat synth-driven score — including disarmingly perfect cues of Big Country’s “In a Big Country” — adds a youthful, nostalgic snap to the story. Land Ho! isn’t life-changing, but is one of those films that’s good to have in your life every now and then.
