The Parking Lot Movie (2010)
*** (out of 4)
Bizarre but entertaining documentary taking a look at a parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia where we see the man who owns it and the men who run it. We get to hear their various stories but mainly we see what they do at their job, which is usually nothing as they sit around trying to keep themselves entertained while waiting for someone to cheat them. This is a pretty strange documentary but director Meghan Eckman spent three years on this project and it's certainly original to say the very least. I must admit that I didn't find too many of the personal stories very interesting. Perhaps had more time been devoted to the actual characters then this would have improved things but even at 70-minutes the film does seem a bit too long so perhaps not adding any extra scenes was good. What kept me entertained was some of the things that I was curious about. Every time I leave a parking garage I usually wonder about how much money they're taking in and about the person who might own it. It was fascinating hearing from the owner who talks about how he got in the business and how he hires people to look after the lot. Another interesting aspect was hearing the workers talk about how boring it was and we get to see some of the activities to keep them entertained. However, the best stuff deals with some of the rude customers and how the employees deal with them. Even better are the scenes dealing with people trying to get away without paying.
*** (out of 4)
Bizarre but entertaining documentary taking a look at a parking lot in Charlottesville, Virginia where we see the man who owns it and the men who run it. We get to hear their various stories but mainly we see what they do at their job, which is usually nothing as they sit around trying to keep themselves entertained while waiting for someone to cheat them. This is a pretty strange documentary but director Meghan Eckman spent three years on this project and it's certainly original to say the very least. I must admit that I didn't find too many of the personal stories very interesting. Perhaps had more time been devoted to the actual characters then this would have improved things but even at 70-minutes the film does seem a bit too long so perhaps not adding any extra scenes was good. What kept me entertained was some of the things that I was curious about. Every time I leave a parking garage I usually wonder about how much money they're taking in and about the person who might own it. It was fascinating hearing from the owner who talks about how he got in the business and how he hires people to look after the lot. Another interesting aspect was hearing the workers talk about how boring it was and we get to see some of the activities to keep them entertained. However, the best stuff deals with some of the rude customers and how the employees deal with them. Even better are the scenes dealing with people trying to get away without paying.