“Old Goats,” which opened Friday at SIFF Cinema Uptown and directed by Taylor Guterson (son of celebrated novelist David Guterson), follows three old men as they more or less play themselves. The camera swings with them through Bainbridge Island, where Guterson grew up; various parts of Seattle; and occasionally outlying parts. But “Old Goats” keeps the three old men firmly in focus, and goes progressively deeper into their stories, their psyches, and their souls.
Britt Crossley, playing Britt, seems like the saddest one at first.
He has no phone, no computer, no wife, no girlfriend, and lives alone on his boat, with about 70 square feet of room below deck. He’s filled up most of that 70 square feet with an intimidating pile of clothing, tools, books, a stray air horn, and miscellaneous junk, leaving him just enough room to slide onto his single mattress. His friends Bob and Dave try to pull him out of his funk and into the real world, with startling results.
David VanderWal, playing Dave, seems like the calmest, best-adjusted member of the dynamic trio. He’s married and host to an active social life; but look a little closer and you’ll see how he drinks entirely too much (with a smile on his face, admittedly) and doesn’t care for his wife so much as live side-by-side with her in détente. His challenges lie along the big decision to play along with what his wife wants, or go for broke to become his own person.
Bob Burkholder, playing Bob, has so many stories that he’s written an entire book about them. His life, in the film at least, consists of endless women and endless adventures by plane, boat, and fast car.
Now well into his seventies, he maintains an active dating life, sometimes to the groans of the other two. But he worries, in his twilight years, about whether his choices were right or wrong.
Guterson, in his first feature film, manages the deceptively simple-seeming task of making his camera invisible. The three old men bicker, reminisce, opine, and sometimes cut each other down, but often with comedy, and always with a sense of friendship which can survive even the darkest episodes. Occasionally, the supporting cast intrudes a bit much. Like the three leads, they are non-professional actors.
But unlike the three leads, everyone else seems, by comparison, just a little bit stiff, a little bit self-aware.
So, the film stays with its strengths most of the time. The trio are not, strictly speaking, playing themselves, and I was relieved to note that some of the “characters” have problems onscreen which they do not suffer in real life. But they stay true to life—which might sound easy until you attempt it yourself—and offers up a refreshing slice of life.
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