SXSW07–Lost In Woonsocket

Sometimes people get a little lost on their way home. Sometimes they get lost on their way to life. The guys from “Random 1,” a show on A&E about a year ago, were there to help one person at a time.

John Chester and Andre Miller drove around the country looking for people who needed help. They would do everything in their power to hook them up with people who could do more for them than they could. Whether it was something as small as getting a cat out of a tree or as big as raising money for a new home for a family of ten, these guys and their crew would do everything they could for that one random person that they found on the street.

John, apparently, has been doing this for years. One of his first cases was an alcoholic with no teeth and no prospects of getting out of his hole. Before he could help him, he was robbed and killed.

So, when they met Mark, they knew that they had to help him now, before it was too late. But when they did that, they left his buddy Normand behind to live in their tent. When the show aired, though, Normand’s family saw it and contacted them.

This is the story of how Mark and Normand were helped by John and Andre. It’s an amazing story of hope, redemption, charity, and falls from grace.

Unfortunately, it’s also like a long episode of a tv show. John’s narration is very typical, almost Access Hollywood-like. (Not that annoying, though.) And the editing is cut and dry.

None of this is surprising considering the crew’s roots and the fact that is was cut from tv footage (all of which was given back to the crew by A&E in an amazingly nice gesture). And none of it makes it a bad documentary, just an unspectacular one. Which is really too bad since the story is so good. (Some complained about how it has no real resolution, but with this sort of story sometimes there IS no resolution. Not for a long, long time, anyway. So I was fine with that.)

If you get a chance, check it out. It’s worth it for the inspirational story and the fact that these two guys care enough about other people to help complete strangers out. And the friendship of Mark and Normand. These guys would obviously do anything for each other.

Oh, and Joe the Barber is pretty awesome, too.