American Bear

This road-trip diary from now-married filmmakers Greg Grano and Sarah Sellman tests the charge that the U.S. national mood is generally one of distrust and intolerance. The young duo (20 and 21, respectively) drive cross-country—taking an arbitrary route based on whatever town in a given state happens to be named Bear—for 60 days, asking complete strangers to put them up for the night in what amounts to an informal sample of the nation's character. They find fear/loathing in Las Vegas, and have to sleep rough in Atlanta, but most of the time the "kindness of strangers" prevails, although the pair note (seemingly crestfallen) that the statistical majority of their friendly hosts were white Christians. A mostly charming documentary suggesting that simple hospitality—especially in the off-the-beaten-track Red State territories of the Plains and Midwest heartland—still predominates, this is recommended. (C. Cassady)