American Odyssey

"We're Airstreamers. We're campers. And we care about each other." Welcome to the world of the Wally Byam Caravan Club, named in honor of the late inventor of the Airstream trailer, a sleek, aerodynamic traveling home which resembles a cross between a silver bullet and Darth Vader's helmet. American Odyssey invites the viewer to ride along with the mostly senior buffs of the WBCC, as they travel from Ohio to an Airstream jamboree in Massachusetts. Discussing their devotion to a nomadic way of life (a choice which they credit to a healthy lifestyle which has kept them alert and active through, in some cases, their 90s), most of the interviewees here don't mind the confined spaces or their lack of a home base, believing that "home is where you park it." Devotees of the club find plenty to do together at the trailer park, including dances, pet contests, even parades, and visitors can send or receive mail at the camp's very own post office. Filmmaker Chris Monnier has chosen an authentically offbeat American subject (profiled recently on CBS Sunday Morning), but the tone wavers uneasily between satire and straight reporting and there isn't enough follow-up about the problems of singles and widows in the caravan, or the fear some express that age may force them to give up their independence. A worthy try, but an optional purchase, overall. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)