Film festival directors, like parents, rarely confess to bias, but Sandra Hebron couldn't help herself. Introducing "Old Joy" Sunday at the London Film Festival, the artistic director called it her favorite.

	Kino International Daniel London, top, and Will Oldham star as old friends in "Old Joy." Click photo for larger image.

"That set the bar high but people seem to like it," actor Daniel London said, shortly after returning from England. "I think it's really a film that either people get and go along with and appreciate, or else they kind of throw their arms up and think, 'What the hell was that?' There was one guy who stormed out at the end."

"Old Joy," directed by Kelly Reichardt, has none of the usual triggers that send moviegoers to the exit in a huff. It's a gentle, meditative, sometimes wordless movie about two old friends who reunite for a weekend of camping in the Cascade mountains east of Portland, Ore.

Mark (London) is a husband and father-to-be while Kurt (Will Oldham) is footloose but hungering for the closeness that slipped away.

"It's a very subtle movie, and it's unusual, I think, and it almost requires a lot from the audience. At the very least, it really allows the viewer to kind of bring things to the movie. It really doesn't lead the viewers around a lot or bludgeon them with ideas."

Pittsburgh native London, 33, now lives in New York with his musician-wife, Megan Reilly. He shot the film in Oregon in summer 2005 and while he's not the sort of person dying to sleep outside in a tent, he loved hiking through the woods and basking in the serene settings.

While London's name may not be instantly familiar to moviegoers, his face might be. He played Robin Williams' sidekick in "Patch Adams," the pre-cog caretaker in "Minority Report," a support group leader in "Rent" and one of Christopher's junkie buddies on "The Sopranos." His stage credits also include a number of collaborations with playwright Beth Henley.

It was while growing up in Mt. Lebanon (parents Elaine and Alan London still live there) that London learned to appreciate arthouse movies at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. Now, he feels lucky to be part of a project that might have screened there or at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, which is bringing it to town for the festival. London will be here for the Friday and Sunday showings.

"The film to me is almost meditative in its style and tone. If people feel like they can kind of fill the spaces the movie leaves, it will be a better viewing experience. Also, I don't think it's a movie that you have to think, well, 'What does this mean? What does that mean? What's the intention there?'... You can just take it at face value, and it's a quiet movie, and I do think there's a lot of depth and layers to it."

A friend told London he wasn't sure he got it. But, the actor says, "I don't think the movie is trying to put a puzzle forth for people to figure out. It is what it is, and I think there's a lot there to be gotten from it, but some people are going to take that journey and some aren't."