41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny, yes, but..., August 7, 2002
This review is from: Hands on a Hard Body (DVD)
Most of the previous reviews describe HOAHB as a sort of a farce. Though it certainly does have comic moments, some intended and others not, it is not a comedy. It is easy for the typical documentary viewer (i.e. educated, middle class or better, often urban) to laugh AT the participants. And sure enough, none of them would seem out of place in a "Waiting for Guffman"-type mockumentary. Those who approach it this way, however, miss the true richness of the video.
The goal of the directors, achieved brilliantly, was not to portray the participants as a bunch of wacko hicks and their pursuit of the truck as absurd. What they want us to see and what the participants articulate so eloquently (often in spite of themselves) is the universality of the human experience. These folks in Longview, TX, are willing to push themselves to the limits of physical and psychological tolerance for a chance to win a truck. A brilliant medical student works grueling 100-hour weeks in pursuit of her ultimate goal. What's the difference? As the quote at the beginning of the video states, it's the journey and not the destination that is the true experience.
One of the most fascinating and moving parts of the documentary is when the participants explain what a new truck would mean to them. Nobody is doing it just for the hell of it. Whether the cause is material need, spiritual communion, or the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat," the truck is their Holy Grail and their quest to win it worthy of Greek myth. Two previous contestants say that it was the best experience of their lives. A powerful idea.
What would be this important to you? It may not be the chance to win a truck, but all of us would be willing to push ourselves to the limit for something, someone, or some experience. How far would you go? How would you get there? How would you be changed by the journey? That's what this video is about. The laughs are a bonus.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really quite brilliant, December 21, 2002
This review is from: Hands on a Hard Body (DVD)
Mid-level production values, top-tier story. A very telling and moving look into a contest that legitmately opens up the human soul. Different people, different backgrouds, all with some individual desire. That the contest is over a pickup truck is humorous at first but ultimately irrelevant (however, I'm not sure I would have even watched it if it were about anything less absurd). Instead you have a half-dozen people who are entirely ordinarily and uniquely determined. Any viewer has to come out of this a little humbled at the winners and with a better sense of the real depth of all the strangers on the world.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
H.O.A H.B. Was My Most Enjoyable Experience at a Theater, November 29, 1999
This review is from: Hands on a Hard Body (DVD)
Never in my life had I laughed as hard as I did when I first saw this movie. I saw it at the Dobie Theatre in Austin, Texas, where it has been playing now for about one and a half years. The reason this movie is still playing there is because it never gets old. I love getting new friends to watch this movie because they always love it as much as I do. Everyone I've shown this movie to (about 20 people)has nearly died of laughter. Even when I was watching it by myself for the upteenth time I swear that I laughed just as hard as I did the first time. I am almost sure that everyone will love this movie. I am going to give this movie as a gift to my friends in New England and Oregon, because I feel that this movie needs to get more noteriety and needs to spread everywhere. If every person in this country could see this movie then it would be a much happier place.
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