Shadow of a Wheel

This is an enjoyable look back at a chapter in the lives of a group of teenagers (and a few adults) raising money for Multiple Sclerosis and traveling across the country by bicycle. It is almost unimaginable sending kids off to do this today.

The enthusiasm of the interviews is excellent and their passion for what they did is charming. Especially when they talk about destinations on the trip such as Durango.

The tone of this is very much like watching old home movies and going through photo albums. I really got a sense of what it was like to travel with this group and the challenges that they faced crossing the United States.

A story with little to discuss and with out any true substance. Not sure why this documentary was made or produced except to satisfy the parents egotistical needs to see their children on tape as a film crew follows a gaggle of teenage bikers that are on a cross country bike tour. Not worth watching, a true waste of time. Expect to see this documentary on your local PBS channel as several of the now grown teenagers reveal their insight on how they became aware of the evil and corrupt nature of Americas founding and expansion westward during their truly uninspiring trek towards their adolescent adventure into adulthood. A must not watch.

I do like stories about people and here you see the participants as young people going through a tremendous experience and reflecting upon it 40 years later. I thought it was fascinating. The individual stories were well told and the whole adventure made me want to have been one of the ones who took part.

Just a couple of years later I moved to the US and worked for 5 years in a National Park (Yosemite), a time which was very precious to me in my life and where I made good friends and had some great experiences.

This is a very different adventure in many ways but similar in some.

Please do ignore the one negative comment - this documentary is not political at all and you'd have to be super sensitive to call it "liberal".

Paul Bonesteel is a filmmaker of terrific instinct and tremendous skill. Using remarkable footage and photography from the epic 1982 journey of the "Spokesmen," he weaves a compelling and emotionally nuanced tale. I finished watching it last week, and it has stayed with me for its dramatic investigation of resilience. Paul Bonesteel's well-chosen images and his thoughtful narrative work delicately in tandem to reveal how strong, how tough, and how irrepressible teenagers can be. Anyone who has ever been a teenager will find points of identification in the film. Watching it makes me dare to want more for, and to ask more of, the younger folks of our world.