Feeling trapped in your current life situation? Too uninspired or scared to do something totally random? Maybe you’re just looking for a wacky summer vacation idea. Filmmakers Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell may just have the kick in the pants you’re looking for. And they’ll make you feel all warm and fuzzy at the same time…awwwwww.
Finding themselves trapped in a monotonous hell at their dead end office jobs, pals Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell decide to toss their boring lives and make a road trip documentary. But this isn’t just gonna be any road trip doc – they set to cross country, from Seattle to Boston, on a Segway, otherwise known as one of those goofy little stand-up scooters for lazy a***s. Failing to snag support from Segway themselves, Weeks and Caldwell end up having to purchase one of these scooters themselves. Once this step is taken they know there’s no turning back, so they put together a small crew and gain a little financial support and then they’re off.
Here’s the plan – the crew have given themselves 100 days to complete this trek and every mile of the way Josh must ride the Segway, which putts along at 10mph, regardless of terrain, weather conditions, or psychotic townsfolk. The rest of the crew are to follow him in a jeep, filming his progress, as well as their struggle to survive on the road for so long. Lucky for them, the media picks up on their quirky adventure and Josh quickly becomes a countrywide cult figure, finding people opening their homes for he and the crew so they could have a place to rest and snag a free meal. This acceptance by total strangers give them the muscle to forge on, even though the longer they stay on the road, the more hardships that pop up – ailments and ever-growing financial hardship included. Josh and Hunter find that their trip, as eye-opening and enriching as it is, is a real bitch, too.
Josh’s story of riding the Segway from coast to coast is an interesting one, but the heart of this film are all of the different stories they hear from various people they meet on their journey. Different stories with a unified theme – people doing what they have to do, what they were meant to do, to achieve what they most want in life…and that’s basically to live free and happy…just like Winnie the Pooh.
For the past year, “10mph” has been charming festival audiences around the country and now with this DVD release, the journey carries on further with deleted scenes and a commentary track by Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell. The filmmakers offer more insight into their adventure, so the story is basically doubled. That’s a lot of “10mph” to handle and I’m sure you’ll dig every minute of it. It’s a very calm, quiet ride, but an intensely inspiring one. Many would benefit from checking this film out.
