Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary (1997)

Hands On A Hard Body is a documentary about a contest where a handful of people compete to win a truck by standing for as long as they can. They must have at least one hand one the truck at all times and are not allowed to lean or bend over. The last one left after all others have given up wins the truck. These contests can last for several hours, some even going for days, and are one of the greatest tests of someone's patience, endurance, and willpower.To be honest, I didn't expect much going into Hands On A Hard Body; in fact I expected to be bored out of my mind. As the film opened and the first few shots came across the screen I was fully prepared for a potentially mind-numbing 98 minutes. What I didn't prepare for was that I might have a great time watching it. As the film rolled on and I started to learn about the contestants I was surprised to see that I was actually rooting for some of them, and then I realized something I could have never prepared myself for: I was actually enjoying the movie.I'm not usually a fan of documentaries because they depict real-world events and, to be completely honest, I don't enjoy reality. I like watching movies with original stories because I am given the opportunity to escape the dullness of everyday life and be taken to another, more exciting world. I especially enjoy a movie with an engaging story that absorbs me into its world and lets me get to know the characters because their struggles become my own, taking me away from my boring reality and drawing me into a more interesting one. Because documentaries are a depiction of reality I prefer to avoid them and watch the latest blockbuster instead.Hands On A Hard Body, however, is a rare documentary. From when the first contestants started dropping out to when the final few were fighting with all of their might I was on the edge of my seat, as if I were watching a blockbuster rather than a documentary. You got to know each contestant, decide which ones you liked or disliked, and then rooted for the ones that won you over, sharing in their struggles as you saw them strive and suffer to win that truck. There was one contestant in particular that I really identified with. As the film went on I was so absorbed into the story that I wanted to see this contestant win more than anything but was ultimately disappointed when they were not victorious. However, despite their loss I enjoyed every minute I spent with them.I wish there were more documentaries like Hands On A Hard Body, but not just because I want to be entertained; I want to be reminded that life is not always as dull as I think it is. Hands On A Hard Body showed me that there are moments when life is free of all stress and responsibilities, feeling less like a documentary and more like a summer blockbuster.

Wow. It's so crazy what you can make people do for such small sums of money. It almost makes me want to take a trip to Texas with a pocket full of 20s, just to see what I can get those hicks to do. Almost.I still don't know which is funnier: The toothless hick couple with a '20-ton' AC unit, the woman who couldn't possibly afford payments on a measly $15k truck, or the retard who showed up to the contest wearing boots.In the end though, the film really REALLY made me feel glad that I'm not them. I will wake up tomorrow, and everyday for the rest of my life, thanking my lucky stars that I'm not an inbred hick, living in some crap hole in the middle of Podunk, Texas.

Although the film is a bit slow at first it does grab you, a bit like a serial show, and you just have to sit it out until the end. I remember when this was released and heard from several friends, originally from this area, that it was a must-see- movie. I'm not a "car person", so I wasn't very enthusiastic about seeing it. Then, I couldn't find it anywhere. Well, it's so much more about people and their little quirks, paranoia and drive that it is about cars or a contest to win a truck. Everyone is motivated by circumstance and desire.This fun and novel contest showcases human behavior and motivation - theyare the stars of this documentary that ultimately celebrates the sheer peculiarity of the unwashed-Texas-public.

A number of the other reviews are from Texans who wonder if you have to be from Texas to appreciate this film. No, you don't! It's a fascinating slice of American life that I think is insightful to anyone. It would also be a great film for people from overseas to learn something about middle American culture.This movie follows 20 people in their attempt to win a pickup truck. What I loved about this film is that (a) even that there's no action sequences with special effects, the film has a wonderful sense of tension and suspense, due largely to (b) the fact that the director doesn't just turn the camera on and expect magic to happen, but managed to interview a number of the contestants before hand and really get into their heads via some well done interviewing and editing. This film has some wonderful psychological portraits, which make the suspense heightened as you wait to see how the contestants hold up over the very long wait.While I watched this, I was sort of reminded of the Dogma 95 resolution, to only use hand-held cameras and available situations, so that the story and the acting are what stand out, not "movie magic." By those standards, this film measures up quite well -- and it's not even fiction!