Mild-mannered Alvin and immature chatterbox Lance are hired to spend the summer of 1988 repainting a highway in a fire-damaged Central Texas forest. By day they work on the road, and in the evenings they set up camp in the forest and banter by the fire. The isolation quickly wears thin on Lance, who yearns for a life of partying and women, while Alvin revels in the serenity of the setting and writes love letters to his sweetheart back home. While the two initially lack common ground, an unlikely friendship slowly emerges from the mutual annoyance. A détente is reached, and the two begin to realize they could actually learn something from one another. With the help of Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch’s easy and authentic chemistry, versatile American director David Gordon Green successfully marries his talents for lyrical character drama (George Washington, All the Real Girls) and ribald buddy comedy (Pineapple Express) in this charming and low-key odd couple comedy based on the 2011 Icelandic film Either Way.

—Cara Cusumano