It begins with a long-overdue reunion between two men who were once related by marriage, as Seattle-based Colin (Eenhoorn) arrives on the Kentucky doorstep of his former brother-in-law, Mitch (Nelson). The requisite stark contrast in personalities is established right off the bat when Mitch, a gregarious, all-American loudmouth, tells Colin, a softer-spoken Australian-American, that he’s planned an impromptu trip to Iceland for the two of them. After some half-hearted protest, Colin agrees, the vacation being just what he needs to get his mind off his recent split from his second wife.
Before long the two men land in Reykjavik, where Mitch has a fairly simple, effortlessly pleasurable agenda in store: stay in nice hotels, eat at the city’s finest restaurants, and possibly smoke some premiere local pot before moving on to the scenic countryside, with its hot springs and hiking spots. (The superb cinematography, by Katz regular Andrew Reed, alternates between intimate closeups of the characters indoors and staggeringly beautiful outdoor vistas.)
More than a few scenes here may suggest that Stephens and Katz are making a superannuated remake of “The Trip” or its recently Sundance-premiered sequel, “The Trip to Italy”; not unlike Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan, Mitch and Colin savor their share of exquisite meals (at one point sampling a few baffling-looking molecular gastronomy dishes), and Colin even has a few celebrity impersonations up his sleeve, including Danny De Vito in the aptly referenced “Twins.” Before long, too, the men are joined by a pair of attractive, much younger female companions in the form of Ellen (Karrie Crouse, Stephens’ regular collaborator) and Janet (Elizabeth McKee, Katz’s wife), who have been touring Greenland and coincidentally find themselves in Reykjavik at the same time as Colin and Mitch.
The fact that Mitch and Ellen are distantly related provides a merciful early hint that “Land Ho!” will not devolve into the sort of leering May-December sexcapade one might expect from a less mature sensibility at the helm. And sure enough, after some initial tentativeness that dissolves once Mitch breaks the ice, so to speak, the four ultimately develop a warm, friendly rapport that serves, for the two gents, as a sweet, sad reminder of their vanished youth.
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