Louis Theroux is back in America again, this time speaking to three groups of people: polygamists in Oregon (which is a subject I have seen covered in other documentaries, although I don't know if this is just a statistical quirk or something in the water), some planning their own suicides, and some involved in so-called "open" adoption (an operation similar to surrogacy, although the pregnancy itself is not planned). In the first programme, one gets the impression of people trying rather too hard to convince us, but more importantly themselves, they have found the ideal way to live. It's interesting how earnest and un-hedonistc they are - but it's not clear that they're really as happy as they profess. The second programme is the strongest, a very serious subject that Theroux treats with appropriate sensitivity and respect, and the result is surprisingly un-ghoulish, as he meets real people wrestling with the ultimate dilemma. A worrying possibility the last two films is that, in the land of the free-market, the biggest decisions of all are overly motivated by monetary considerations. Theroux's style of film-making might not be for everyone, but it is well-suited to certain lines of enquiry, and these three stories are a worthwhile addition to his opus.
