Chicago – Take actors Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch, make them highway line painters, put them in a fire-ravaged woodland and the makings for a savory two character portrait is realized in “Prince Avalanche.” David Gordon Green adapted and directed this appealingly offbeat art film.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The weird story is given oxygen through Rudd and Hirsch, who have a vital yet frustrating chemistry through the film’s journey. They both seek redemption, but they refuse to go in the proper direction towards that absolution. They are absolutely oil and water, and must live together through a monotonous existence of painting highway lines and driving each other crazy. The film also has symbolic shades of the stage play “Waiting for Godot” and the film “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” and uses devices such as two old people in mysterious and enigmatic ways.

Alvin (Paul Rudd) has stuck his neck out for his...