This is a wee bit better than the dreadful Lost in Translation, because we actually see a tiny bit of Iceland, after forty two minutes of a one and a half hour long movie. That's right, the first half is all indoors. The second half, on the other hand, is only 90% indoors, or inside the car, or on close up views. At some point, we can even see some basalt organ pipes in the background, out of focus.What is it with American directors filming fellow Americans travelling in a foreign country ? Why do they only show their protagonists, in constant casual conversations, sometimes with other Americans ? We don't even see any Icelander in this one, if memory serves. Just a Canadian for some added exotism.The two old geezers are boring, one of them even annoying. I wish he would keep silent sometimes. And the music too.

This is definitely a context film. In the context of great works of film and Oscar performances - not so much. In the context of how I imagine my adventure travel in my 70's - spot on. I will recommend this to two of my buddies whom I hope to make similar trips with in our later years. Mitch and Collin are two characters who I can see myself alluding too for many years to come on various tourist trips into parts unknown.I watched this on an international flight and the woman in front of me asked what I was watching because she kept hearing me giggle in my seat.

Land Ho! is the end product of a collaboration between indie co-directors Martha Stephens and Aaron Katz. It's a road movie about two ex-brothers-in-law who travel to Iceland on vacation in order to reinvigorate their lives after retirement. Mitch (Earl Lynn Nelson), a Kentucky surgeon, re-connects with Colin (Paul Eenhoorn), who long ago played French horn in an orchestra but later became a bank manager as well as internet entrepreneur with his ex-wife.The back story as to their mild estrangement is not important, but one gets the impression that it's Mitch (who pays for the trip) is attempting to cheer Colin up, following his divorce from his second wife. As it turns out, however, we later discover that Mitch has ulterior motives—that in fact, he too needs cheering up, as he's also having trouble dealing with retirement.Of the two characters, Mitch is the aggressive one, with Colin playing the passive 'straight man'. Some viewers may find Mitch's personality a bit grating as his comments are often fraught with crude sexual allusions (sometimes directly made toward women). When Colin mentions that he'd like to see an Icelandic lighthouse, Mitch remarks that lighthouses remind him of an erect 'cock' without the 'balls'. Colin, on the other hand, comes off as shy and perhaps slightly depressed. Nonetheless there's good chemistry between the two and Mitch, despite the intermittent vulgarity, has a kind side as well.After Mitch and Colin arrive in Iceland, they drive around in a rented Humvee and see the sights. Occasionally, outside characters intrude breaking up the monotony of their often long-winded but occasionally charming conversations (Mitch sticks to his emphasis on sex; for Colin it's more about the movies he likes). Early on, the two meet up with Mitch's cousin (once removed) and her friend, two Ph.D. students, who just happen to be traveling to Reykjavík , following a stopover in Greenland. The meeting culminates in Mitch's cousin ending up passing out after drinking too much at a local disco.There isn't much more to tell about 'Land ho!' The high point of any conflict between the principals occurs after Mitch convinces Colin to join him taking a midnight stroll on the barren tundra without flashlights, with Colin ending up expressing his frustration with Mitch, who he regards as pushy and self-absorbed. There is very little developed here in terms of a plot that has any tension or characters with any developed or discernible arcs. While both Mitch and Colin are in Iceland to get their "groove back," aside from that, the stakes aren't high enough to suggest anything more than a pleasant, road movie, where nothing leads to any kind of memorable climax. Perhaps the real star of 'Land Ho!' is the beautiful, Icelandic countryside, filmed in high relief, on two expensive digital Red One cameras!

One day during dinner two friends decide it's time to go on a vacation to Iceland. From the start, we know this will be a special trip for these two have a few things in common and very different personalities, so we can expect that there will be a few bumps along the road. We know the setting will be exotic, and there will be after all, some drama along the way.As we have seen in a few recent films, the setting is breathtaking and quite exotic, full of sensational vistas, waterfalls, volcanoes, and more. Part of the deal is that both friends will be adventurous while having their meals, enjoy life to the fullest, and live every minute of their journey to the fullest.The film is charming because we feel like we are coming along. We can almost taste the fancy cuisine, witness their amazement and surprises when they can't understand what has been placed in front of them, and we want them to have fun because we would like that, too. We get to know more and more of their backgrounds and personalities. One is boisterous and outspoken, the other is more of a passive and sensitive type, and they complement each other. There are several scenes where we see their closeness, their happiness at being there, together, having survived bumpy marriages and long lives.Just the way "Mitty" late last year, this film also presents the vastness of the land. We follow their car as it travels through desolate but majestic lands. We see the snowy peaks, the threatening skies, the cold rains, and wonder if they will be able to make it through some of their "adventures".One aspect of the film that I found appealing is that it showed that there is no perfect vacation. There is a scene where one gets on the other's nerves, and one seeks solace and peace for a while to be able to rejoin his friends after his hike. We also realize along with them that this film has no answers but experiences, and it is a bit sad to see them standing in a bar, where all these young people are dancing and having a great time, but both realize it might just be a bit past their bedtime.Still, there are many wonderful scenes, such as getting lost at night, meeting the Canadian photographer, getting a few looks from the younger generation who somehow appreciates the long journey these two have taken and have earned our respect and appreciation just for having lasted that long."Land Ho!" joins "Shirley Valentine", "Enchanted April" and a few of those gems that take us to exotic locales only to show that is what we bring with us that becomes the essential part of the experience. If we don't partake of the joys of life, we might as well, just stay home and die.