FINDING `JOY' IN SMALL EXPERIENCES.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

Shortly after two old friends, Mark (Daniel London) and Kurt (Will Oldham), embark on a road trip in Kelly Reichardt's elegiac ``Old Joy,'' one of them mentions an old record store they used to haunt.

It's gone, replaced by a smoothie stand. ``No more Sid's? The end of an era,'' Kurt muses.

``Old Joy'' is, itself, about the end of an era, the parting of friends who have taken divergent paths in life. Reichardt's beautiful, contemplative movie is aching in the way it evokes loss and the alienation that often comes with adulthood. The movie runs only 76 minutes, and for long stretches, few, if any, words are spoken, with Reichardt relying on sounds, images and Yo La Tengo's meditative score to convey an abundance of the feeling and characterization.

Mark is married. His wife is very pregnant, and he seems to be anticipating fatherhood the way a condemned man awaits lethal injection. He dutifully listens to Air America, each grim report a reminder and, to him, a confirmation, that the world is going to hell in a handbasket.

So when old friend Kurt calls, proposing a camping weekend, Mark jumps at the chance to escape his life 7/8 much to his wife's disapproval. But Mark's connection with Kurt, an aggressively mellow stoner on the verge of homelessness, is tenuous these days, and there's a palpable tension as they leave Portland, Ore., for their sojourn in the woods.

Given that Kurt is well into the dime bag of pot that he bought (with Mark's money) on the way, it's natural his sense of direction is a little off and that the two don't initially find their intended destination, a hot spring in an old-growth forest. That failure, Kurt's cosmic ramblings and a string of cell-phone calls from his wife lead Mark to silently think the trip is a waste of time.

But when Kurt and Mark find their way, all is forgotten under the magical spell of a silent hike through the natural world. This leads to a moment between the friends that is, by turns, awkward and affecting, as Kurt strives to regain the human connection and bond with Mark.

But Reichardt, who co-wrote the movie with Jonathan Raymond, working from Raymond's short story, is under no illusions that such moments can last. The friends part, Mark clicks on the radio for another round of bad news, and Kurt hits the streets that may soon be his home. The film's final shot will stay with you, a signal that, even with his tenuous place in the material world, Kurt is the one who's in tune and spiritually awake.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

OLD JOY - Two and one half stars

(Not rated: mature themes)

Starring: Daniel London, Will Oldham.

Director: Kelly Reichardt.

Running time: 1 hr. 16 min.

Playing: Laemmle's Fallbrook in West Hills; Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena; Laemmle's Music Hall in Beverly Hills.

In a nutshell: Magical, mournful look at two old friends trying to reconnect during a camping trip.

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Photo:

Will Oldham and Daniel London are two friends trying to reconnect on a camping trip in the sentimental ``Old Joy.''