HANDS ON A HARDBODY A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1999 David N. Butterworth
***1/2 (out of ****)
"Ma Daddy had a truck. Ma Daddy's Daddy had a truck. Everyone in ma family had a truck. You can't do nuthin with a car."
These may seem like mighty powerful reasons why an outspoken cowboy called Benny would enter the annual, tortuous "Hands on a Hardbody" contest in the sleepy Texan town of Longview, but Benny has an even better one. Benny won the first ever contest, sponsored by Longview's Jack Long Nissan, back in 1992. After an incredible 87 hours, Benny was the last person to have his hands still firmly planted on the body of a brand-new Nissan flatbed truck as his remaining few opponents fell, walked, or were carried away.
In S. R. Bindler's remarkable documentary, "Hands on a Hardbody," the year is 1995 and Benny is back to try his luck a second time. This time around there are 24 competitors and, as in previous years, the rules are simple: contestants must stand with at least one gloved (to avoid scratching the paint) hand on the vehicle at all times; there must be no leaning on the vehicle, and no bending of the knees to stretch the legs; there will be five-minute breaks every hour, and 15-minute breaks every six hours.
The last man (or woman, since men hardly dominate this contest) standing wins.
In a decade of "real" TV, this might appear a less-than-riveting study of the lengths to which people will go to win something big (in this case a $15,000, fully-loaded pickup). But what makes the film so compelling is Bindler's confident technique, the poignant theme (in the tradition of "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"), and the memorable array of characters who congregate under the large tent on the Jack Long parking lot.
Characters like Norma, who listens constantly to religious music on her walkman and is supported by a prayer chain of several hundred people. And Angie, who claims that she doesn't think she could ever do something like this again (only to return the following year). And the toothless husband who claims to have "conditioned" his equally toothless wife for the event.
And there's Benny himself, of course, who commands center stage with his attempts at highbrow pontificating. He's been here before, so he knows what it takes. "It's not about stamina, it's about sanity. It's mind over mind, it's about having the metal. It's not a contest, or a competition, it's a real human drama."
Bindler's bargain-basement approach--"Hands on a Hardbody" looks like it was shot on a Fisher Price kiddiecam and transferred to Standard 8 film--adds to Benny's so-called "human drama." By the end of the competition, the last two contestants hug each other long and hard, one in congratulations, the other in commiseration. It's at that moment you realize that everything Benny has said, no matter how ridiculously clichéd it first sounded, is true. This feat of physical and mental endurance is as much about kinship in adversity as it is about winning a truck.
And with blood, sweat, and tears--and a lot of humor--"Hands on a Hardbody" brings that reality home. It might be "a work by S. R. Bindler," but it's an absolutely fascinating one.
-- David N. Butterworth dnb@dca.net
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews