There is no beginning and there ain't no end, just a middle here. A middle, a snapshot - very much like the journey the protagonists take, cutting through into the middle.
The movie is visually stunning. The stops along the way are beautiful. LA, Death valley, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Rt 66, Grants, Tucumari (misspelled in the movie as another reviewer pointed out), Amarillo, Tulsa, Stanton, St Louis, Chicago.
However, one fails to connect to either lead. There is no backstory on who they are, what they do. All we get are a lot of words, but none that makes us like/dislike/form an opinion.
From the beginning one can see that Josh definitely likes touching Michael more. He is more wooden in his acting and wish there was more feeling to his attraction to Michael. But when he explains his fears to Michael (towards the middle of the film), we see a small glimpse into who he is, before it is shut off again, permanently.
Michael, though he does more of the talking and is more exuberant, shows us nothing of his inner workings. He opens up just enough to keep the viewer, and perhaps Josh, interested, never letting on who he really is or wants.
