Film: Last Stop for Paul
Director: Neil Mandt
Opening: New York City (and Los Angeles), late next winter.
Other Screenings: First Glance Film Festival (www.firstglancefilms.com), Philadelphia, Pa., Sept. 28-Oct. 7 (details on exact dates and tickets are available as of Aug. 28).

I like road movies, and this one is a fine example, having picked up 24 awards at various film festivals. Originally a series of episodes made for the Travel Channel TV station, which later decided against running them, the individual segments comprising Last Stop for Paul were posted online to great acclaim, at least if the number of Web hits is anything to go by. Thus encouraged, Neil Mandt, the movies’ writer and director, decided to breathe new life into his work by joining the pieces together. His method of doing so—one friend, a sedentary soul, agreeing to travel around the world with another friend, an avid traveler, only if he could scatter the ashes of a third friend, who had been planning a round-the-world jaunt of his own at the time of his death—allows the film’s central theme, how travel makes for deeper friendships, to work on several levels: Mandt forms close ties with those he travels with, meets along the way, has traveled with before and, in Paul’s case, those they have left behind.

Some of the justification for travel voiced by the narrator in the film’s early sections sounds a little heavy-fisted, even if those who share Mandt’s passion know exactly what he is talking about, but that is a necessary inconvenience in order to set the tone and action, which starts in Jamaica. The film also does not shirk from some of the “trials” of travel. After all, this film is based on memorable travel stories, and these can be mini-tragedies, as well as gigantic triumphs. After all, “I went to a beach, it was pretty, and the sun was shining,” probably is not sufficient for a 90-minute flick. So, one character has his money stolen after believing mistakenly that he is soon to enjoy the delights of the female side of Jamaica; another character misses a ferry and fears for his life from someone who he wrongly decides is a South Seas pirate, and both characters end up in a Vietnamese jail for a “crime” they are none the wiser as to its nature before, during and after their short incarceration.

The film flies along quickly, one story screeching behind the last. The result will, depending on your view of these things, have you either reaching for the phone number of AAA Travel or deciding to stay close to home forever.

Like-minded souls are picked up along the way, most of whom make their way—the travelers’ grapevine working its full magic on all—to the Full Moon Party on the Thai island of Koh Phangan. There’s even a blossoming romance developed along the course of the film, but one that is not full of Hollywood saccharine. On the DVD Car & Travel watched, the Full Moon Party does seem something worth going half way around the world for, but in the cinematic release, this section has been entirely re-shot, Mandt feeling that the original takes did not do the event justice. It will be interesting to see if the new scenes fully justify the craziness that viewers throughout the film are led to believe exists in that legendary once-a-month bash. Even if it does not, viewers will judge that they have received ample reward for their ticket price. As most travelers know, often the journey to a destination proves more memorable than the destination itself. Mandt know this when he narrates, “Travel gets inside of you. It touches your soul. The more I saw of the world, the more I realized how little I knew and how much more there was to experience in life.”