the audience applauded

Absolutely Fantastic

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

You can understand this film if you only speak French, but this film is really a gift from France to the US. Antoine holds a mirror to our society and reflects on our culture in ways we Americans simply can't do for ourselves. He goes looking for, essentially, the American Dream. Along the way he captures some beautiful images alongside some tragic stories.I'm pretty sure Antoine knew he wasn't looking in the right places to find the American Dream. He rides the bus in Miami, treks along southern country roads, and wanders the quarters of the old New Orleans. He roundly avoids the North and blows through Las Vegas, but he takes his time strolling down Main Street. To his credit, Antoine doesn't stalk Americans in Cowboy hats chugging Buds. He talks to the Indians, gets props from the counterculture, and gives the voiceless lots of parole. This is Europe's time to take up our hungry and tired.My last impression walking out of the theâtre was that this film really had some structure. This is no random sequence of interviews. And this is certainly NOT a film about Antoine de Maximy. Each stop exists in context of all the rest. He talks to Americans about their problems and ends up recording all our dreams. Sometimes he throws on a voice-over as a little corn starch to hold his plot together, hence the 8 for ten. But by the time he made it through Hollywood, everything held together nicely.Where does he spend his last night? Does he find the elusive American Dream? Hey, this isn't a spoiler, but I will say he ends up in a good place.

After seeing this documentary at a preview in Lille, my family and I were truly under the spell. Fans of Antoine's TV programmes, we thought we might get bored with a full-length film; on the contrary, we found it too short, we wanted him to meet more people, see new places. What we really enjoyed is that the film is fun (the part where Antoine buys a hearse from this drunk is really something), sometimes touching, sometimes melancholic, sometimes scary (in New Orleans) and always interesting. It will interest both those who have travelled to the States and want to know where he went, and those who have never been there and want their money's worth of warm relationships with real human beings.

This movie is based on the TV series/documentaries called "J'irai dormir chez vous" (I will sleep at your home)in which Antoine de Maximy is traveling around the world, with the aim to meet people and discover their way of life, and perhaps spend the night in their home.This time, Antoine de Maximy is traveling the USA during three months, from the east coast to the west coast, meeting a bunch of fantastic people, from various horizons. The result is a very brilliant kind of road trip, often humorous and sometimes very moving. We are in front of a depiction of the United States trough the eyes of a wanderer meeting all sorts of Americans (I don't want to spoil anything, but believe me there are crazy moments - Charlie and his cat !). What makes this kind of documentary so efficient is the way the trip is done : The director is alone, with simply 3 cameras with him and nothing is planned. As a result, it is more an kind of direct experience of the true nature of human being in itself than a documentary about it.To my mind, and to a certain extend, more than being worth watching for spending a great time with the very friendly Antoine, this documentary is a real portrait of a picturesque America.I had the privilege to see this movie at a preview in Nancy (France), with a debate with the director himself, Antoine de Maximy, and I must say this guy is really awesome and is as friendly in real life than in his movies. If, like me, you enjoyed the TV shows, you will love the movie. If you never saw the TV shows, you should really go watch "J'Irai dormir à Hollywood" and have the chance to experience a real outstanding new kind of social and cultural documentary.