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Based on a real-life event about an endurance competition to win a pickup, Bastian Günther’s watchable story is told with convictionThis psychological drama from German director Bastian Günther is based on a real-life event. A 1997 documentary by SR Bindler called Hands on a Hardbody was about the annual sleep-deprivation endurance contest run by an East Texas auto dealership, where 24 people compete to win a brand-new Nissan Hardbody pickup truck by keeping at least one hand on it for the longest continuous time. They are allowed brief hourly breaks but cannot sleep, or lean their weight against the vehicle, and if they take their hands off it for any reason, they’re out.US festival audiences found something sympathetic and humorous about these stoic hopefuls and there was even a stage musical version with a happy ending. Robert Altman was apparently developing a feature version just before he died, though reportedly envisioning something darker, like They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Günther’s film is certainly no Broadway musical though he has created an ingenious, if far-fetched narrative twist, a contrivance whose complications he can’t quite absorb into the script. But this is audaciously structured with a sombre coda sequence placed after the end of the contest. Continue reading...