Hands on a Hard Body is a
documentary about a contest in Longview Texas sponsored by a car
dealership. They have a new truck, and they drew the names of 23
contestants. The contest is that you must keep one garden-gloved
hand on the truck at all times. No leaning, no crouching, just
standing there with a hand on the "hard body." 5-minute
breaks every hour, 15 minutes every 6 hours. Interspersed
throughout the course of the contest (which went 78 hours, as I
recall - that would be 3 days and 6 hours!) were interviews from
the previous winner before this contest, interviews with the
contestants, comments from bystanders, and other interesting
minutia.
Aside from the poor quality of film, it was
intriguing, full of absurdities, insights into human nature and
what motivates people, and "true human drama" as one of
the contestants called it.
I thought it was an excellant study in human
behavior. I really liked how they interwove the interviews with
the participants before the contest. I really had no idea who
would win, although I must admit when the guy who identified
himself as a professional judge said he picked Kelly (I think
that was her name - the young cocky girl in the baseball hat), I
assumed she would do better than she wound up doing. I loved the
big guy who stayed up all night the night before, planned to fast
and eat Snickers, and didn't bring his tennies.
One of my favorite lines: "soon it seems
that the world does not exist beyond the K-Mart parking
lot."
If you get a chance to see it, I'd recommend
it!
