review: STARBUCKING

Heretic Films  //  Buy from Amazon.com Follow the bizarre story of Winter, a man who has dedicated his life to visiting every Starbucks in the world. Discover the unlikely motivation behind his seemingly pointless and impossible mission. Learn how this near obsession has driven Winter to more than 6,000 Starbucks (and counting) since 1997. Ride along with Winter on a journey that has led him to nearly every U.S. state and several foreign countries in search of new Starbucks. See hilarious encounters with the people he meets along the way. Watch as he tries to break his longstanding record of visiting 28 Starbucks in one day to find out if that much caffeine can drive a person completely insane! STARBUCKING is truly the ultimate road movie. The story takes place on location everywhere, including the friendly neighborhood Starbucks down the street from your house. Sit back, have a cup of joe, and watch as one man defies society's norms in a never ending search for the lady in green... I'm not really sure where to begin (or end) with this film, or this review, as I was rendered speechless while watching, and stared long & hard at my keyboard before words started to stumble out. Expecting some type of "taking on the establishment" type film (a la "Roger & Me" or "Super Size Me"), instead we get a glimpse into the mind... err, rather, the journey... of a very (very (very)) committed man and his quest to visit every single Starbucks location in the world. What might make an interesting thread on Digg translates into quite a bizarre film that is more fly-on-the-wall than documentary... but leaves you in awe just the same. While I can't pretend to understand Winter's motivations (shoot, I can't even stand the smell of coffee, let alone drink the stuff), I can't help but be appreciative for having sat down to watch his story unfold... as it made me realize that I actually am not wasting my life, but am in fact doing infinitely more than some as we hurtle around the universe at 26,000 miles per second. Zoinks. However, I will say that this is a fascinating story following a truly fascinating individual. The film is well-done, really observing the "fly on the wall" P.O.V. as the quest unfolds and I enjoyed how the director let the main character open up like a strange, tropical flower - you're not sure what you're going to find as the petals slooooooooowly peel themselves back, but you're far too curious to even think of looking away. Fascinating. Video Shot on video, the fullscreen picture is quite nice, with decent sharpness and detail throughout. Audio Equally solid Dolby stereo mix delivers all the sonic goodness in fine form. Extras audio commentary w/ director & star deleted scenes trailers Closing Thoughts Entertaining lil' documentary (which is surprising, given the subject matter) + some solid extras = original documentary following a true original on his truly original quest