the movie - the review

[Guest guest]

Thanks for your kind words, Steve. It was good to meet you, too.

Here's the review that some had asked for:

The movie wasn't so good, as Steve has mentioned. One person who saw it said it was like being in a dream, because of the way the scenes flashed by, I guess. It was hard to know what was going on. Scenes weren't explained. Steve was seen in a car, more often than shown walking, I think. The audience didn't know why he was in the car. He was talking on a cell phone in a car dealership but what was he doing there?. It didn't show too many details of the trip, the things we had learned from his journal and that I had hoped to see. We saw none of the joys of the trip, and surely there were many. For someone seeing the movie but who hadn't read the journal, they would have had little idea of what it was about. Probably they would only learn that he had left San Diego, walked to New York while doing a lot of yelling and complaining, and made it there.

The editing made him unlikeable and surely, for the filmmakers, that was shooting themselves in the foot. I know of one person who walked out of the movie before the end. He said " the guy was too much of a jerk " . That's not the comment anyone involved with this project would want to hear.

I was sorry for Steve. It's not only that the movie may not do well, it's his reputation. It showed him telling the press he had lost, I think 80 pounds at that point. The very next scene is him telling someone he hasn't lost that much weight. It gave the impression he had just lied to the press. It makes one wonder what the filmmakers (while editing) were thinking. It appeared that even his kids were being used against him (my thoughts as I watched because his daughter seemed uncomfortable during this questioning). They were asked if they were happy and what would make them happier. Were they fishing for the kids to say things like " it would make me happy if my Daddy would come home " ? The little boy said it would make him happy if they painted the room red. It was cute.

the Trainer is a character; a funny guy.

These are my impressions, I'm not implying anyone was lying or that the truth wasn't shown as I only know what I read and saw. People involved in something often have opposing viewpoints of the same incident. However, the movie is slanted against Steve in a big way and I can't see how that helps anyone involved in the movie. Plus the flashing scenes and not knowing what they were about didn't make it a good movie. The audio was often poor, whether they were along a highway or in a buiding.

Afterwards the audience was able to ask questions and people did so until we were finally asked to leave so they could show the next movie. Afterwards I was able to talk to Steve who was pleasant and candid and kindly gave his time. He was forthright in answering all my questions about the movie, without hesitation. I look forward to when Steve publishes his book, in his own words. Then we will know what the trip was like as we don't find that out from this movie. Right now the book is in legal limbo, or something. But I believe he will eventually get it back. Even much later after the walk, I think people will be interested in the story. Besides, there'll be more to the story by then. What happened " behind the scenes " is interesting, just as the walk is.