05/25/2002 Entry:
"Hands On A Hard Body - S.R. Bindler (1998)"

I first heard about this film on This American Life, during a segment broadcast in 1997. The basic gist is, there is a contest in Texas every year wherein 24 contestants put their hand on a hardbody truck, and the first one to take their hand off loses. It typically goes on for three days. That segment contained a long interview with Benny Perkins taken from the film Hands On A Hard Body produced in an utterly surreal and atmospheric way (you can hear the show via RealAudio here.) I had heard this broadcast and always remembered it. Then a couple weeks ago, Doc Films was showing the film. It got recommended highly in a couple local papers, but I couldn't make the screening. However, seeing it on DVD, I decided to get it.

I was pretty disappointed with this. Partly, this stemmed from the fact that the mood of the original piece on This American Life was so cool and surreal, something you just don't get out of this documentary. Too much picked acoustic guitar. Also, the production values were pretty low, something I don't usually mind but things like the excessive use of long shutter speeds at points kind of bugged me. Also, once the contest gets down to three or four people, it gets pretty intense. Wouldn't it be to your advantage as a filmmaker to figure out some way to get another camera and make sure you had one on the truck at all times? For some reason, after all the shooting they must have done, they manage to miss the last contestant taking her hands off the truck. I mean, I understand you only have one camera, but this is what you're there for! You figure out a way. It just doesn't make sense.

Otherwise this was fine to watch once. It shows that anyone with a camera can make a movie people will watch and enjoy. I did enjoy it, I just felt it could have been a lot more. Certainly the interviews with Benny were the high point, and the ending really is a surprise. You really do see a lot of these people go quietly crazy, another high point is when the third place contestant takes her hands off the car and just kind of wanders away in a daze. Pretty spooky.