Southbounders (2005)

http://www.cinemapat.com/2010/10/southbounders-ben-wagner-2005.html

At first glance, one might think this is a documentary. Especially after viewing the opening sequence. At least, that is what I thought. I was expecting a documentary about a thru-hike southbound on the Appalachian Trail, but was pleasantly surprised to find out this actually had a story.

Southbounders tells the tale of a fed-up 20 something who decides to attempt to find something she was missing in her life by hiking southbound from Maine to Georgia on the Appalachian Trail. The film is chock full of gorgeous vistas and shots of beautiful nature. I can really appreciate that they filmed this movie actually on the trail which was great. The soundtrack is one of the films most appealing features. This movie has a lot of heart, you can tell the filmmakers really have a love for hiking and the AT itself.

Olivia, the lead of the movie played by Amy Cale Patterson, begins the journey as a "newbie" but learns the tricks of the trade by reading the log books scattered throughout the trail and hiking with a goofball "comic relief" character named "Slackpack". She finds that she is having a strong connection with Rollin, one of the hikers leaving notes in the log book. A crush begins, she sets off to find Rollin and the rest of the film is her hiking with this mysterious man through the rest of the Appalachian Trail. We see the relationship build and ultimately fall as is the life on the mountainous trail.

The story was surprisingly good as was the acting. I would have liked to have seen more of the trail and their journey. The movie seemed to have skipped an entire season (Winter), which would have been interesting to see. I suppose the filmmakers couldn't film in those conditions.

All in all it was a surprisingly well made film. I enjoyed it and made me want to go hike the AT, so I suppose they accomplished what they set out to do.