HANDS ON A HARDBODY

HANDS ON A HARDBODY is an endurance contest in Texas where 24 people surround a "Hardbody" pickup truck and put their hands on it. Last person to remove their hands wins the vehicle. And so begins 3 to 4 days and nights of continous truck touching, interrupted only by short restroom breaks. As the physical and psychological stresses begin taking their toll on the contestants, one by one they wilt, flip out, burn out, drop out and go crazy. (A couple of years ago a contestant walked away from the truck and directly into a local K-Mart, where he picked out a 12-gauge shotgun and shot himself in the head.)

I just watched the Hands On A Hardbody documentary about the 1995 competition. The film follows contestants through their ridiculous ordeal, revealing hilarious and heart-warming vignettes about the human spirit. Of the many charming Texan characters in the cast, my favourite is the long-winded yet oddly compelling mechanic Ronald McCowan, shown here:



SO SERIOUSLY, watch this film. Do not Bitorrent it from here because that would be wrong.

Tweet