IMDB Rating: 7.2/10

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Genre(s): Documentary

Director: Andy Devonshire

Cast: Dave Gorman, Stef. Wagstaffe, Andy Devonshire

Medium: Unknown

Plot Outline: America Unchained is a really good documentary from the mind of DaveGorman (occasional statistical analyst for the Daily Show. He had asegment called "Poll Smoking, with Dave Gorman).Basically Dave wants to see if it's possible to drive across Americafrom the west coast to the east coast without giving any money to "TheMan". That is to not buy gas at, eat food at, or sleep at any big chaingas stations, restaurants and hotels, instead only doing the previouslymentioned at 'Mom & Pop' places that are family run or independentlyrun.It's an interesting look at how small town America is being swallowedup by big time corporations, and a big part of unique American cultureis dying off as the public accepts becoming homogenised in greater andgreater aspects of their lives.What makes this documentary good is it isn't political. No corporatenames are brought up in criticism to serve an agenda, but only broughtup as an example of a place Dave doesn't want to give money to becauseit's not a 'Mom & Pop' business, and because it is often devoid ofcharm and character due to the uniformity of the chains. Waking up in ageneric room at a Best Western Hotel tells you nothing of where youactually are in the world as a room in New York and a room in Istanbulcould be completely interchangeable.Dave's style is always personal and honest, and you get to see allkinds of emotion from a man who often ends up in very difficultcircumstances (sometimes through his own fault) and you feel for himwhen he gets angry or even starts to break down sometimes. But none ofit feels contrived, as someone watching it you're just along for theride.It's also only 75 minutes, so it's not too long to become laboriouslike some documentaries can be.Highly recommended.

Location: VD9/Documentary

Loaned: No