Rating: 
Summary: This is an EPIC COMEDY that redefines its genre!
Review: Tired of bad actors, fake characters, tedious plot devices, and all that "I-want-my-money-back" disappointment?Tired of newspaper and television news that claims to give you the world as it is, when it's usually selling heartless tragedy, big business, and government ideology? TIRED OF NOT BEING SURPRISED, EXCITED - SET FREE FROM THE LIMP EVERYDAY IMITATIONS OF YESTERDAY'S STORIES? If "yes" is your response to any of these, take the word of a film critic and documentary filmmaker with ten years of experience in the documentary and narative film industries: this movie will reawaken your faith in the potential of audio-visual entertainment! Check all your expectations of boring education, or depressing social, economic, and historic commentary. Forget sarcastic and heartless exploitation and premadonna-esque self glorification. Forget what you know or think about the Documentary Genre and purchase, rent, or go to the theater and see Hands On A Hardbody! YOU WILL LAUGH YOURSELF TO THE FLOOR! I do not mean to say that there haven't been any worthwhile theatrical or televised documentaries, there have been several. But as technology has significantly lowered the cost barriers of producing reality (and fiction) based audio-visual storytelling, many more creative minds are now apt to try their hand at observing and assembling the settings, situations, and personalities that make up the many nations of the world. Shot, edited, and produced for under $40,000 by five talented young filmmakers (three of which graduated from New York University's film school), Hands On a Hardbody is a remarkably refreshing, hilarious, and poignant look at the folly and hidden glory of collective human endeavor. "Ridiculous language," you say. "Hard to believe." - I understand. Nonetheless, I say this film may be called a sounding trumpet - one of very few that herold a great rebirth for a genre that has, for the most part, grown depressingly and/or disinterestingly stiff. Like an athelete covered head to toe in quick-drying plaster, the prevailing documentary mold has been broken open, and I look forward to witnessing, with great anticipation, as the freed prisoner traverses the earth with great ferocity and grace. Do what you must to see Hands On A Hardbody and judge for yourself whether or not the ridiculous is something in which to believe.
Rating:
Summary: A TX thing.
Review: To truely appreciate this film, you must be from TX. Hook 'em Horns! I first saw this film at Dobie in Austin. On the surface it is a low-buget no frills film. But as you watch the characters rise and fall, you become enamored with the tale. "BEST in Show" is a complete rip-off of this film.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, but very cheaply produced documentry
Review: Worth seeing if like getting insight into the very, Very, VERY common Joe's of the world. These people ar soooo real they would never be cast in a reality TV show! Yep .. that real!
Rating:
Summary: The Pride of Texas
Review: Wow, at first you think you're going to laugh at these small town folks but that is not what happens. You will laugh as you find yourself emotionally invested in the real people whose stories quickly unfold. You will wonder if you could make it to the end. The editing is great. The movie is compelling throughout and very funny.
Rating:
Summary: Flawless documentary
Review: You know how when you have heard how great something is, it never meets the expectation? Hands on a Hard Body is a film that does it. I had high expectations (the kind that are innevitably unreachable), when I saw it and I came away with even more enthusiasm for the film. It is a contest, so for whom will you root? You may be surprised by who wins...maybe not. Look forward to a cleverly directed mystery, a human struggle, a character study, a drama of marginalized members of booming economy, and a whitty comedy in which no one knows they are the humorist. Oh, ya, and it is OK to like it, even if you aren't from Texas, although you may feel some guild for awhile.
Rating: 
Summary: Watching this is like being one of the participants.
Review: You'll wind up bored, exhausted and wondering why you started in the first place. If, like me, you are thinking of ordering this DVD based on Amazon reviews, don't do it. HOAHB is a classic example of what you see is what you get, and what you don't see, you don't get. Of course, you get a roughly produced documentary of the contest. You get interviews of all the contestants. You get a surprise ending. What you don't get is everything else. To win this contest, each contestant must keep one hand on the truck at all times. I thought there would be some funny scenes of people accidentally removing their hands. One scene shows a girl taking her hand off but not being caught. Other than that, you don't get any video of hands coming off the truck--not even when only two contestants remained! The only thing you do get are scenes of the camera being hastily turned on and rushed to interview someone to tell you what happened while the producers were sleeping, eating or whatever, instead of filming. This was extremely disappointing. You don't see anyone get tricked, anyone get cheated or anyone freak out. Let me emphasize again that you don't even get to see how the contest ends! I kept asking why I was watching interviews of people explaining what happened instead of actually *seeing* what happened. Not having video of the ending is inexcusable. I thought there would be some funny interviews with the contestants. This was another big letdown. The many interviews explain that--surprise!--the contestants are poor, have time on their hands and cannot afford to buy the truck. Some want to drive it; some want to sell it. Unless you think that having no teeth is funny, you won't laugh much here either. And this was the good part. The rest of the interviews can be summarized as "I'm tired, my feet hurt but I think I can win." I guess when the only question asked over two days is "How do you feel?", this wasn't really the contestants' fault. A little storytelling exists, but not enough to hold your attention. The only good example I can remember was a clip of last year's winner stating that contestants should avoid heavy meals, then an interview with a guy who said he just ran out of gas, then cut to a shot of him eating a big hamburger eight hours earlier. I expected a little more. In conclusion, you do get a documentary about a contest to win a truck. However, you don't get anything that would make watching such a contest enjoyable. Watch "Best In Show" again instead.
Rating:
Summary: Watching this is like being one of the participants.
Review: You'll wind up bored, exhausted and wondering why you started in the first place. If, like me, you are thinking of ordering this DVD based on Amazon reviews, don't do it. HOAHB is a classic example of what you see is what you get, and what you don't see, you don't get. Of course, you get a roughly produced documentary of the contest. You get interviews of all the contestants. You get a surprise ending. What you don't get is everything else. To win this contest, each contestant must keep one hand on the truck at all times. I thought there would be some funny scenes of people accidentally removing their hands. One scene shows a girl taking her hand off but not being caught. Other than that, you don't get any video of hands coming off the truck--not even when only two contestants remained! The only thing you do get are scenes of the camera being hastily turned on and rushed to interview someone to tell you what happened while the producers were sleeping, eating or whatever, instead of filming. This was extremely disappointing. You don't see anyone get tricked, anyone get cheated or anyone freak out. Let me emphasize again that you don't even get to see how the contest ends! I kept asking why I was watching interviews of people explaining what happened instead of actually *seeing* what happened. Not having video of the ending is inexcusable. I thought there would be some funny interviews with the contestants. This was another big letdown. The many interviews explain that--surprise!--the contestants are poor, have time on their hands and cannot afford to buy the truck. Some want to drive it; some want to sell it. Unless you think that having no teeth is funny, you won't laugh much here either. And this was the good part. The rest of the interviews can be summarized as "I'm tired, my feet hurt but I think I can win." I guess when the only question asked over two days is "How do you feel?", this wasn't really the contestants' fault. A little storytelling exists, but not enough to hold your attention. The only good example I can remember was a clip of last year's winner stating that contestants should avoid heavy meals, then an interview with a guy who said he just ran out of gas, then cut to a shot of him eating a big hamburger eight hours earlier. I expected a little more. In conclusion, you do get a documentary about a contest to win a truck. However, you don't get anything that would make watching such a contest enjoyable. Watch "Best In Show" again instead.
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