America's Heart & Soul (2004) - full transcript

♪ Here in this land
of opportunity where

♪ Success and failure
rest side by side

♪ Big old roads
run coast to coast

♪ Lots to see if you
could catch a ride

♪ But the world
don't bother me none

♪ Don't want nothin'
I can't get myself

♪ There's still
things to be done

♪ Till the bell rings out
for me on judgment day

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ Down this great highway
we call the future

♪ With no one but ourselves
in the way, yeah



♪ If I stumble,
gonna keep on movin'

♪ And lookin'
for a better day

♪ When the sun
comes shinin', baby

♪ I'll be walkin'

♪ No finger
pointin' at anyone

♪ No bigotry,
no guns a-firin'

♪ No problem under the sun

♪ But the world don't
bother me none, no

♪ Don't want nothin'
I can't get myself

♪ There's still
work to be done

♪ Till the bell rings out
for me on judgment day

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah ♪

Yee-haw!

I'll staple that
hat to your head
if you can't keep it on.



We'll be in proximity to me.

That means kind
of close to me.

It's from the Latin.

You take Latin, don't ya?

ROUDY: My name is
Thomas Alta Roudebush,

but many people
call me "Sir."

Anyway, my name is Roudy,
but that's R-O-U-D-Y.

I'm kind of the last
cowboy around Telluride.

The others just pass through.

That's good, girls.

Easy, now.
Come on, cows.

ROUDY: You get a horse
that trusts you,

and you have
a wonderful thing.

A lifelong relationship

that isn't gonna
let you down
and go away sometime.

These mountains
are an inspiration
to me on a daily basis.

You feel deep roots
when you live

on the continental
divide for 30 years.

It's the backbone
of the world.

Maybe it makes me stronger
just looking at it.

As I get older,
I have more questions.

But I don't care so much
about the answers.

It's more the matter of...

the pondering
is what I enjoy.

These are wild animals,
these elk.

And it's taken me
16 years to get them
to trust me, not much,

but enough that I can
ride up to them on horses,

which they're not
as fearful of.

It's all right, girls.
It's just me.

Whenever I start
to scare 'em,

I turn my side to 'em
so I'm a prey animal, too.

And then they,
and they look at me
and go, "Oh.

"He's just that guy
that talks all the time."

"There's nothing
scary about old Roudy."

ROUDY: I want the horse
calmed down, not fired up.

What you're doing
is the opposite of what
I asked you to do.

What have I done
for Roudy today?
Or better,

what have I done for Roudy
in the past few seconds?

All day long I think that.
Nonstop.

MAN: I came here in
April and asked Roudy,
did he need any help?

His only one question was,
"You don't cry easy, do ya?"

Much as I hide it,
I really enjoy

harassing these young
people every day
of their lives.

He's good with the horses,
though, and he loves us all.

He's just not sure
how to say it all the time.

ROUDY: Recently someone said,
"What's new in your life?"

And I was able to say,
"Well, I'm sober!"

So that's a new thing for me.

And interesting work,
sobriety.

I certainly gave
alcohol every chance
to be the right way to go.

Cindy, girl.
There you go.

In Wisconsin,
where I was raised,
no one mentioned

that if you drank
a case of beer every day
for 30 years,

it would become addicting.

(COUGHING)
There's water in that!

I can still be a big tipper.
I'm always telling her

that even though
there's no alcohol
in these glasses,

I still want 'em.
A lot of 'em.

As long as I can
exercise my arm.

He's gonna be
in the bars forever.

I'd love to have a drink.

Comin' in here
to see his old friends.

Whether he drinks or not,
makes no difference.

And that was probably
the reason
I quit the alcohol,

is to have more freedom.

And that's what I got.
A whole lot more freedom
than I used to have.

God,
I'd have less rules.

We've experienced
being free and unfettered
human beings here

because there
aren't many people

and there isn't
much government.

And so it's hard
to have your freedoms

even infringed a little bit.

Cherish your freedom.

(NEIGHING)

(GROWLING)

MARC: This land that we're
on has been in my family
for 250 years.

My children are
the seventh generation
living on this property.

They live in their
great-grandfather's home.

In fact, I feel so connected
to this land that at night,
sometimes,

I come out here
and I can almost see

my ancestors' ghosts
floating around here.

(PLAYING FOLK MUSIC)

MARC: My name is Marc Savoy,
and I'm a reincarnated
Neanderthal

that's been sent back
to play Cajun music
for the world.

You know, you start off
with a big bowl of hot water.

And if you just try
to taste that,
it doesn't taste very well.

But if you add a few notes
and a few spices
here and there

and a few embellishments,
before long,
you've got a gumbo.

Or a two-step.
And that's pretty much
what it's all about.

People should look back
and say, "Hey, where do I
come from?"

"What makes me unique?
What makes me special?"

"What language
did my ancestors speak?"

(SINGING CAJUN)

It's not just, you know,
one kind of food,

or one kind of music,
or one kind of landscape.

It's the wonderful
diversity of this country

that makes
this place so great.

That's it.
It's gonna be all right.

Oh, yeah.

MOSIE SINGING GOSPEL:
♪ Every day, every mornin'

♪ Just about the break of day

♪ When Jesus touched me

♪ Oh, he washed my sins away

♪ I felt like running,
I feel like shouting

MOSIE: Music is my life.

And it flows from the soul,
through your mouth,
to all of us.

♪ It's real, Holy Ghost

♪ Take my doubts, Holy Ghost

My name is Mosie Burks,

and I'm a child of the King.

That's who I am.

♪ Nothin' but the Holy Ghost,
nothin' but the Holy Ghost

MOSIE: My mom passed away
at the age of 40,
and I inherited six children.

Youngest was four years old.

And I would cook
the last meal at night,
and go to bed,

and say my prayers.

And the next mornin',
before daylight,

somebody would be
knocking on the door

and sayin', "Mosie,
here's some chicken,"
or, "Here's some bread."

And I would just
praise the Lord for that.

And as they grew up
and they married off
in my yard,

and I received happy cards,

I have mementoes in my house
that I get each time,

because I'm their mom.

My mom was a great mom.

I became a great mother.

I am a great mother.

MOSIE: I first connected
to music when I was about
three years old.

And they were singing it
in the church.

♪ Swing low, sweet chariot

♪ Coming for to carry me home

♪ Swing low, sweet chariot

♪ Coming for to carry me
home ♪

WOMAN: The fabulous,
the one and only,
Mississippi Mass Choir.

♪ This morning
when I rose, yes

ALL:
♪ I didn't have no doubt

MOSIE: Gospel
came from slaves.

While pulling
the cotton sacks

they chanted.

They'd moan.

(HUMMING)

Nobody could stop them.

♪ I woke up this mornin'
with the Holy Ghost

♪ I didn't have no doubt

♪ Hey, I got up this mornin'
with the Holy Ghost, yeah

♪ I didn't have no doubt

It's like singin'
in front of a wave.

All those voices coming,
and it keeps building
and it lifts me up.

And then to have
the audience to come in
with the other wave,

and we get caught
up in the spirit.

And it just takes
me higher and higher.

(GIGGLING)
And it's like, wow!

♪ And one more thing, y'all

♪ Because he saves

♪ I got to run for Jesus

♪ I got to run for him

♪ All these days

♪ And shout

♪ That joy he wrought

♪ I felt like shoutin', whoo!

♪ I feel like shouting

♪ I got to shout ♪

MINNIE: When pioneers
came across these hills,

coming into these valleys
like this, where
my ancestors settled...

My grandmother, Effie Ella,
she brought with her
a little rosewood box.

In that box she had flaxseed,
some needles,

a little pair of scissors,
just the necessities.

What else she brought
with her was the knowledge

of how to build looms,
and spinning wheels,
and cradles.

How to give birth
to her own children,
and how to live off the land.

That's what I inherited.

This is where
I learned to listen.

Most people pray,
and they're doing
the talkin'.

But when I weave,

I must listen.

And it quietens my head
so I can hear myself.

And I can know what separates
the wheat from the chaff
in my thoughts.

And Albert does that
in the field,

plowin' the field.

He works in rows,
and I work in rows of fabric.

Weavin' back and forth,
just like he does.

He doesn't have a boss.

Nobody tells him
to go out there.

8:00 every morning,
start his tractor and plow.

He decides.

That's called self-discipline.

I have to learn that.

If I've woven ten
feet into this rug

and it still
doesn't say, "yes,"

I'll cut it
right off the loom
and start again.

Forget that.

Poverty is not a word
to a true Appalachian.

I mean, don't be afraid
of having nothing.

Because look,
you're all you've got.

What else do you need?

That's what it's about,
the transmission
of the culture.

I've been broke many times,
but I've never been poor.

MINNIE: A man come to me
one time and he said,

"How do you know
you're a mountain person?"

I said, "Well,
cut me open right here,

"and just pull that back
and look right in there.

"You won't see a heart.

"What you'll see
is a mountain range
a mist hanging in the hills.

"That's my heart."

GEORGE: Bacon and eggs
all right for breakfast,
Henry?

HENRY: Sure.

That's good,
'cause that's
what we're gettin'.

GEORGE: My name
is George Woodard,

and I've got
a small dairy farm

in middle-of-the-state
Vermont,

which is over
on the east side
of the country there.

If you're lookin' at a map,
it's on the right.

Hey, you know what?
What?

Your mouse
has got five legs.

Huh? Oh, yeah...
Oh, no. Oh...

Oh. I put that
as a tail. I forgot.
I thought that was a leg.

Oh. Better erase one
of them tails, huh?

Well, this farm was
bought by my grandfather
in 1912.

And, he farmed it
until my father and mother
took over in '46,

after World War II.

In '75,
when I got out of school,

I couldn't
figure on what to do.

And we had this farm,
you see.

So I decided,
"Well, you know,

"maybe I'll raise up
a bunch of calves,
milk cows."

So that was 25 years ago
and I'm still here.

How about that?

Hey, look at my milk stool.
That's pretty good, huh?

Don't come much
better than that.

If you got this cow
over here,

you got the machine on.
You got this cow over here,

and you're startin'
like this.

That machine
happens to fall off,
you just whip around, quick.

Grab that, quick!
Just like that!

Yeah, that's pretty good.

GEORGE: Thing about workin'
seven days a week is,

you don't have to worry
going back to work

on Monday
when Sunday comes.

Don't dread it, you know?

GEORGE: One of
the great things about
havin' a small farm

is you get to see
your child grow up.

You don't send them
to daycare
and that kind of thing.

You know,
I have my son half the time,
every other week.

He's here with me all day,
and it's just delightful.

Just watchin' him
grow up here and...

Look how he's over there
with that cow.

It's just a beautiful thing.
Just beautiful.

He's a good boy.
He plays fiddle,
takes fiddle lessons.

He doesn't like it,
but he does it anyway,
you know.

(PLAYING FIDDLE)

GEORGE: Once more!

(LAUGHING)
I love that!

BOTH:
♪ Someday, I'm gonna climb

♪ Up and down the other side
of the mountain

♪ Someday, I'm gonna fly

♪ Somewhere over the rainbow

♪ And I'm gonna make
my dreams come true

♪ La-da-da,
da deedle-dee dee-dee

♪ La-da-da
da deedle-dee dee-dee

♪ And I'm gonna make
my dreams come true ♪

Yes.
All right.

Okay, another good one
you've written there,
George.

What do you mean,
another? It's the only
one I ever wrote.

GEORGE:
For the last three years,

I've kind of
delved into a little bit
of film directing,

using my nephews
and nieces and my son.

But hold on that
for a couple of seconds

so that we can cut
in the middle of it. Okay?

And... Action!

I try to create
stories around what I've got
right here,

to keep my expenses down.

For instance,
this is just a set

that I threw up
in my hay barn here.

Cut. Good.

One take.

It is fun to watch
the whole thing
come together,

with everybody
participating.

I'm in a production called
"Dracula: The Musical."

(GRUNTING)

(PEOPLE LAUGHING)

He's got a great
sense of humor.

Come, my darling.
Come, take my hand.
Let's fly away.

WOMAN: He'll do
a whole performance,

and then go home
and milk the cows.

MAN: Tear the set down.
WOMAN: Mmm-hmm.

Go home to milk.
Go home to milk.

And do it again
the next day.

♪ I ain't sayin'
that my life is bad,

♪ But Lord I wish that
I only had the comforts

♪ That they can't build
in machines ♪

There was a period of time
when he left the farm

and went out west,
went out to California.

I loved LA. I loved it.
It was great.

But this works
on a small scale,

and that seems
to be enough.

For me, anyway.

GEORGE: ♪ Clothes out dryin'
on an old clothesline

♪ Fishin' on the lake
with a friend of mine ♪

GEORGE: There's nothin'
more important

than watchin'
your children grow up.

Learn new things every day.

I just love it
more than anything else.

(EXCLAIMING)

I was a short-order cook.

Uh, got fired from that.

I was a baker's helper.

Got fired from that.

BEN: Jerry and I,
we were failing

at most everything else
we were trying.

We decided to go
into business,

and the only thing
we liked doing was eating.

I think we got
possibilities here.

I like this combination.

You have a great business
when the goal of the business

is to meet the need,

is to create the product,
not to make money.

You make money
as a byproduct
of meeting a need

and doing
a great job of it.

What? Am I still dripping?

You know, I'm a professional.
I'm an executive.

You know, it's important
to keep your image up.

We'll probably be goin'
down around about a mile
and a half.

I'd say that's somewhere
around 8,000 feet.

Watch your heads
right here, fellas.

It's a low spot.

MAN: Coal is
a polluting resource,

but it's also a resource
that put the beans

on the table all my life.

(SINGING OPERA)

MAN: A handmade hat
is much better than
a mass-produced hat

because, you know,
it's like
maintaining an art.

I think hats are just my way
of speaking to the world.

MAN: Anything will
hold you up off the floor.

But a really good chair,
it feels good to look at,

it feels good to sit in,

and it feels good
to be a part

of somethin'
that you believe in.

For me, that's worth
a lot more than the pay
I get.

ED: Every once in a while
you get this time
in your life

that's sealed, signed
and delivered,
and it'll be there forever.

And one of those times,
for me,

was when I was
probably in third
or fourth grade.

And I asked my mom for money,
and she had no money.

And that broke my heart,
and I never asked her again.

And I went to work.

And that's how I got
to where I am today.

I started working
and I never stopped.

I love growing grapes.
I'm pretty good at it.

And I'm gettin' better
every year.

It's a matter of frustration.

It's a matter of patience.

You can't learn
how to grow grapes in 25
or 30 years.

I think it takes a lifetime.

Every year, the whole thing
starts over again.

And we're powerless
to create spring,
or summer, or fall.

And that's pretty amazing.

So maybe that's what
livin' out in the country

and livin' on a ranch
like this does to a guy.

It just puts you
in the middle of God's glory.

One of the first miracles,
if you believe in God,

is where Jesus
was at a wedding,

and he turned
the water into wine,

and that, to me,
is pretty neat.

Why was that
his first choice?

It's because
he liked to drink.
Just like me.

(LAUGHING)

Yeah, that's very good.

I think finding your passion
in life is important,

and I'm lucky enough
to have found that.

I started out just
drinkin' a lot of beer

and chasing women,
you know?

I don't think
you have a plan for it.

I think it just happens.

And I think,
for me, I believe
it's in the vineyard.

That's what got me started,
and that's where
I'd like to end up.

I want to die in a vineyard,
workin' the grapes.

That's my retirement plan.

ACE: When I first came
to the oil field in '49,

I was workin' for
a drillin' contractor.

And we had a little
explosion on a rig one time.

I burned my old head
a little bit.

Few years later,
I decided
the best thing to do

would be workin'
for some company
that put fires out,

instead of being on a rig
where they started.

You know,
you're only old
as you feel.

Some mornings when I get up,
I feel about 120.

But at about 9:30
the next night,
I feel about 35.

My name is Ace Barnes
and I'm 70 years old.

My children did not
follow me in my footsteps.

First of all,
they couldn't keep up.

And second of all,
there's a better way
of making a living.

It's muddy
and the dozer's gettin' stuck

and the pipe
won't drag straight.

Teamwork is very important

because it's pretty hard
to eat a pile of hay

when two mules are goin'
in opposite directions.

You get to think about
the supreme being
when you're gettin' near

one of these big,
ragin' fires.

JAMES: Every time
I go on a job,

my little one,
I think he worries about Dad.

He brings it up
every once in a while

about one of my partners
who was killed in Syria.

There was a huge ground fire,
and they just
couldn't get out of it.

And he was just, you know,
like a second father to him.

And so, I know
it's in the back of his mind
and he don't mention it much,

but, sure, it bothers him,
but he knows
his dad's a professional.

And he's seen me go,
and he's seen me come back.

So, he knows Daddy
will always come back.

Sooner or later,
we're gonna win this fight.

ACE: We finally
got the mother cap.

And it went just
slick as a whistle.

Like takin'
candy from a baby.

We're just common folk.

We're oil-well firefighters.

MAN 1: There always
was a sense of pride
in servin' your country

for the ideals
that it was founded on.

MAN 2: We've taken
our fight to Washington,
and so far,

we've pretty much
fallen on deaf ears.

MAN 3: We simply
cannot compete against
25-cent-an-hour labor

that some of these
foreign countries
pay their workers.

ANDY: It's not right
what they're doin'.

I mean, I'm 45 years old.

It'll be rough for me
to start over again.
If these mills go down,

this town will be dead.

I don't know,
I don't know
what the answer is,

but I know the answer
is not quitting.

MAN 1: In 1984,
National Steel decided

to shed Weirton Steel
from their corporation.

MAN 2: At the time of the
announcement the employees
at Weirton were shocked.

There was a lot of disbelief.

MAN 1:
The employees pulled together
and made a gallant effort

to purchase the company
and become employee owners.

We all bought our jobs.
We bought our pensions.

We bought
our healthcare benefits.

We have employees
with ten, 15 years of service

that depend on the healthcare
that Weirton Steel provides.

One example I can
give you is a coworker,
his name's Andy Kamarec.

And he has a young
six-year-old daughter

that's had
brain surgery twice.

The tumor is coming back,
and if this place fails

and the people
at Weirton Steel
lose their benefits,

it'll just be a disaster.

MAN 1: The sad part
about all this
is our steel mills

and our steel workers
in this country

are the most efficient
and the most environmentally
friendly in the world.

But yet, it's our jobs
being taken away.

And that's hard to swallow.

I believe,
in order to survive,
there has to be

a great deal
of inner strength

that comes
from the employees.

Many of us have
an ethnic background.

When we were growing up,
our parents would not
accept anything

but 100% effort.

If we're given
a fair chance,

we'll do whatever
it takes to survive.

♪ I knew this girl
who couldn't read my face

♪ I'm 21
and she thought I was 28

♪ I'm freakin' out 'cause
I've been runnin' for a while

Waltham's music
was created initially
by my brother David.

♪ Come and take a ride

♪ Be with someone else

♪ Come and take a ride

♪ Yeah, be with someone else

DAVID: Being in a band
for 10 years,

we've done a lot
of styles of music

and we've done a lot
of different sounds
and everything like that.

We always wanted to be
a heavy-metal band.

That's been our dream,
to be like Pantera.

But we're just
not that tough.

♪ Wake up, wake up

♪ Wake up, wake up ♪

DAVID: The inspiration comes
from being in high school,

seeing the girl
of your dreams,

memorizing exactly
what period

you're gonna be walking
by her in the hall.

Just basically the sweat
that you have being a loser.

At one point being
a winner, hopefully.

A lot of bands wear Dickies
'cause they think it's cool.

But they don't wear it right.
They don't wear the,
like, work Dickies.

They go and find the name,
"Ooh, Dickie, it's cool."

And they put on
these big, baggy pants.

And that's not
what Dickie's all about.

Dickie means
you got to go to work,
your job makes you wear 'em.

DAVID: Workin' in a carwash
is the greatest lifestyle.

It's everything
I went to college for.

All right, man.
You have a nice day.

I sit around.
I play my guitar.

I watch Fast Times
at Ridgemont High

every single day,
two times a day.

All right, now. This is
where all the magic
happens in the carwash.

This is where all
the hydraulic engines are

and all the boilers
and everything.

The beauty behind
all of this is that
I don't know what it all is.

My boss doesn't
want me to know
what it is.

Therefore I don't have to
fix it when it breaks.

That's why my job
is so awesome.
We got barrels over here

with chemicals
that are real harmful,

but they clean
the car somehow.

All right, if you ever
walk around your car

and you notice your front
license plate is missing,

chances are
it's at the carwash
in your town.

Well, I drive a truck
during the day,

just until
my music career takes off.

I enjoy it
because I'm by myself.

And I can sing to myself.

I come up with different
facial expressions

that I practice
in my rearview mirror.

This is the "I'm sensitive
but I also have a hard side."

This is my "Hey.
Everything's cool.
I can hang with you.

"I can even hang
with your boyfriend, too."

FRANK: None of us
have peaked yet.

So since we
haven't peaked yet,
we can't stop the band yet.

We weren't, like,
varsity jocks in high school.

Those guys peaked.

They're having keg stands,
and they're done.

Yeah.
We're not done yet.
We're "never wases."

I never did anything
to the best of my ability
in school.

So, my dream is just to be
successful enough

where I can
bring a gold record
or a platinum record home

and give it to my mother
and my father

and be like,
"Ma and Pops, look.

"This is, this is like
my diploma. And we did it,

"and all this time
didn't go to waste.

"Just pretend that I was
in music college
for 10 years."

(HORNS HONKING)

I love goin' fast. I love
swoopin' around corners, too.

You get the spectators like,
"Oh, wow. Look at that guy!"

You feel like Batman
or Spider-Man a little bit.

Excuse me.

My name is John Yacobellis
Everybody calls me "Yac."

Been a bicycle messenger
for 10 years.

Our clients definitely
appreciate the speed

that we get their
packages to them,

'cause a lot of their stuff
revolves around their time.

I hate waiting for elevators.

Takes up so much of my time.

Probably four or five hours
during the week.

I get paid
commission as a messenger.

That's per package.
Per delivery.

On a really good day,
I can make upwards of $200.

And a really bad day,
around 50 bucks.

Those are really bad days.

Morning.

They look a little hungry.

Here you go, guys.

Thank you. Have a good day.
Thanks. Bye.

Sometimes we gotta
eat on the run.

We have no time.
Packages have to get there.

I usually eat
about three or four
doughnuts a day.

Couple of bagels.

And then I start on lunch.

Some of the taxi drivers,
you hold onto
the side of the cab.

You know,
to get a running start

when we have to
stop at the lights.

And we're not
really supposed to,
but they let us.

Bike messenger,
it's not bad.

Sometimes they
give you heart attack.

I trained
for a few years in the Navy,
in the SEAL program.

It takes a certain
amount of toughness
to be a bike messenger.

If you ride like me,
you're gonna get into
some pretty scary situations.

(BRAKES SCREECHING)

YAC: You know,
people are dartin'
in and out of cars

and those doors fly open.

Whoa. Sorry, dude.

Over the years
I've developed reflexes

where I can reach
over my handle bars

and close the door
if it's opening on me.

The Alley Cat Races
that we have in New York

are arranged by messengers.

Usually get a small prize
like a messenger bag
or, you know, a few dollars.

I'm usually
at the front of the line,
trying to win.

I don't go out
to come in second place.

Second place
is the first loser.

Yac? Well,
the obvious is that

any big race he comes to,
he's gonna win it.

Like, he doesn't just
race like you know,
like road races,

like, you know,
you see these guys
wearin' spandex,

all twinkied up,
from head to toe,

riding through Central Park
thinking they're bad.

You know, Yac can rock it
on the ten-speed,
on the road race...

He can rock it
on the mountain-bike race.

You know,
he's, like, multiskilled.

YAC:
New York's a tough city.

I get hassled by people
on a daily basis,
calling me nasty names

and trying to start
fights with me.

Stupid stuff like that.

MAN: Yac's,
he's a good guy.

In the basic
Brooklyn-Queens meaning

of the word,
he's a good fella.

He's always got
your back in a fight.

He'll always help you
if your bike's busted.

If there's something
you can't fix
and he's around,

he'll take a look at it,

use his mechanical skills
to help you out.

He's crowned king
of New York City messengers.

Hope you like New York.
Gotta go.

Thank you.

(PLAYING TRUMPET AND TROMBONE)

JAMES: My family
is a New Orleans
musical family.

My grandfather's name
was "Ooh-Poo-Pah-Doo"
Jessie Hill.

He was a legend of the rhythm
and blues, New Orleans style.

And he played
with Fats Domino
and Professor Longhair.

My brother's name
is Trombone Shorty.

He plays trombone.

MAN: Let's bring him down!

This is Satchmo
from the ghetto.

We're gonna sack
a line to y'all right now,
"Hello, World."

Me and Trombone Shorty
and our Lone Stars
from New Orleans.

(BAND PLAYING)

Come on, y'all.

(BAND PLAYING)

JAMES: My name
is James Andrews.

This is my neighborhood
and these are my people.

In New Orleans,
that's the way of life

for us to play by feeling
and put our heart
and soul into it.

My brother's name was
D-Boy Darnell Andrews.

He was murdered
about three years ago

in New Orleans,
not too far from here.

And we dedicated an album
titled "D-Boy" to him,

acknowledging his memories.

That was the most
tragic time in my life.

In the period with my family,
and we all come together.

And the most
important thing for me

in my life is passing it on
to the children.

That's how I
overcomed everything

by passing it on
to another person.

(BAND PLAYING)

JAMES: We just love each other
and he's my best friend.

And also,
it's kind of wonderful for me

to be able to influence
my little brother

and introduce him to life,
and see the world.

♪ Hey now, you're an all star

♪ Get your game on, go play

♪ Hey now, you're a rock star

♪ Get the show on, get paid

♪ All that glitters is gold

♪ Only shooting stars

♪ Somebody once asked

♪ Could I spare
some change for gas

♪ I need to get myself
away from this place

♪ I said, yep, what a concept

♪ I could use
a little fuel myself

♪ And we could all
use a little change

♪ Well,
the years start comin'
and they don't stop comin'

♪ Fed to the rules
and I hit the ground runnin'

♪ Didn't make sense
not to live for fun

♪ Your brain gets smart,
but your head gets dumb

♪ So much to do,
so much to see

♪ So what's wrong with
taking the back streets?

♪ You'll never know
if you don't go

♪ You'll never shine
if you don't glow

♪ Hey now, you're an all star

♪ Get your game on, go play

♪ Hey now, you're a rock star

♪ Get the show on, get paid

♪ All that glitters is gold

♪ Only shootin'
stars break the mold ♪

It's the only
way to go, 'cause

you're not gonna
be here very long.

Love is the drug.

WOMAN: It's called
"Come play with me,"

and so everything on it
is interactive
or musical or both.

My grandkids love this.

In fact, when I take Chelsea
to school or to pick her up,

all the kids are, "Wow!
That's your grandma's car?"

So I started by painting
a rooster on the door,

and gradually
added more objects.

And suddenly,
I had an identity.

Everybody keeps saying,
"You've got everything

"on there but
the kitchen sink."

And I can honestly
say I do have
the kitchen sink now.

MAN: In this particular case
I thought,
"If Jesus came back

"and there was
a second coming,

"what kind of car
would he want to have?"

Oh, it's just fun.

I wish I got a dime
for every smile.

I'd be wealthy.

WOMAN: People that
take their cars on the road

are taking another
part of them on the road.

It's magic.
It's all about creating magic.

Life's too short.

People say,
"I was in a bad mood
and I saw your car,

"and I just started smiling,
and it just made me happy."

And when I see them smile

then it takes me
out of a bad mood,
if I'm in a bad mood.

So, it's very therapeutic.
Actually, I'm a therapist.

MAN: How many people
have ever experienced
pure freedom?

I've worked hard all my life,
but now I'm doing
what I want to do.

You know,
I can go anywhere I want.

I follow the sun.
I don't like being cold.

More than anything,
it's just the pure enjoyment

of being able
to see people really
appreciating what I do.

What can be more
satisfying than that?

(WHISTLE BLOWING)

PAUL: Too little time
and too many things
to blow up.

We all came to Creede,
which is America's
only open-air asylum.

MAN: We house,
in our community,

some characters
from the outside world.

We never really
turn anybody away,

unless they
turn into something
so bad we can't tolerate.

It gets kind of slow up here,
to say the least.

It gets a little,
little boring.

Kind of like The Shining.
Like, "Here's Johnny."

It's just a nice place
to live without problems.

PAUL: We create our own
entertainment, our own fun.

I'm gonna drop this in here.

And it might go off,
but I don't think it will.

But, kind of, just duck.

Oh, beautiful.

Aiming.

Yeah.
I'd get out of the way,
too, if I were you.

Okay, I'm ready.

Here we go.

Whoo! Look at that.
Bull's-eye.

Let the teeth
of your pig corer do the work.

Work that baby down there
into your ham to cut out
your ham bullet.

I'm just gonna
go ahead and clip
the mustard

and ketchup
onto the frame,

right in front of the knives,
then down into the bread

and it's lunchtime!

Take my ham core,
my heart of ham,

then I'm gonna
ram the ham home.

Ready, aim, fire.

Here's a piece of bread,
here's a chopped
piece of ham...

Mmm. It is really good.

It's a lot warmer
than it was this morning.

Now it's 18 degrees
below zero.

This wacky stuff
comes from a real
hot shower in the morning,

beatin' against my bald spot.

Paul is my mentor.

People need that stuff
to break the cabin fever

of the winter at 8,500 feet.

Okay, are we ready?

(PEOPLE CHEERING)

It's a huge,
giant rush of adrenaline
throughout your body,

and you just feel wonderful.

PATTY: Everything
you think you can do
in an airplane,

everything you could
even dream up,

is what I like to do
in my airplane.

To be a good and safe
aerobatic pilot,

you have to have 100%
concentrative focus.

And that's one of the reasons
that I really like what I do,

is because it forces me

to get rid of all
the other sort of
extraneous thoughts

and all the mundane stuff
that happens around you

during the course
of your life.

And get inside this tunnel

and think of nothing else
but flying the airplane.

My name is Patty Wagstaff,
I'm an aerobatic pilot,

and I'm in Saint Augustine,
Florida.

The airplane that I won
the Nationals in
for the first time

is in the National
Air and Space Museum,

and it's sitting
just behind

one of my all-time heroes,
Amelia Earhart.

I mean, how cool is that?
I mean, what a great honor.

Being a three-time US
National Aerobatic Champion,

I'm very proud of that,
because it's very difficult
to do.

I'm the first woman
to win the Nationals,

and the only woman to have
won it more than once.

I think you really have to be
a little bit better

than the guys
to prove yourself

and I like that.

♪ She's a child of
the wild blue yonder

♪ She's a child of
the wild blue yonder

♪ Born in an angel's tear ♪

PATTY: I always felt like
I was a leaf, kind of
floating in the wind.

When I started flying

even though
it's the most freedom
you can ever have,

it's also the most limiting,
in some ways,

because you have to
take it so seriously.

Anything less than that can
result in disaster or death.

It really gives you a rush.

CLIMBER:
There's something about

the moment that you lose
touch with the earth.

You know, the moment
that your feet
lift off the ground.

There's this just
instant feeling of joy
and surprise.

AMELIA: That feeling
of vertigo, it's not
the fear of falling.

It's the fear
of your deep desire
to want to throw yourself

into the freedom
of the feeling of falling.

I don't like
standing on a cliff
if I'm not anchored in.

Soon as I'm anchored in
and I understand the system,
I'm free.

When you take gravity
and you just play with it,

and you find ways
to soften it,

to dance on walls,
to dance on cliff bases...

When you're dancing
on a cliff
and a Peregrine falcon

flies by and eyes you

you're transported
into a place

where you no longer feel
the ache of your harness,

and you become the jump
that you're doing.

So often a critic
will say, you know,
"Is it dance?"

Or a climber will say,
"Oh, poo-poo.

"They're wearing their tutus
climbing El Cap."

It's like a little bit
of grit in the system.
It makes you wonder.

So things that are liminal,
that are between things,
have a lot of power.

DAN: I get inspired
by the age of the metal,
the antique stuff.

It gives me a lot
of creative energy.

It blows my mind
that this metal

made America
what it is today.

My name is Dan Klennert.

I'm a Northwest sculptor.

We're standing in my studio,
three miles past Elbe,
Washington,

on the road to paradise
and Mount Rainier.

One piece sparks
my imagination,

then I go out and,
like, fall in love

with several
other pieces of metal

to combine it with that one
to come up with a sculpture.

To me, it isn't junk.
It's rusty gold.

The body's made
out of Model T Ford oil
and transmission covers.

I like using rebar
for the bird legs,

because it's got
the texture and the lines

like birds
have on their legs.

The angled iron I'm gonna use
is gonna represent the neck.

And then you put
the head on here,

and you got yourself
a bird that comes alive.

To me, it moves.

(CLANKING)

I'm a 50-year-old
kid at heart.

Here we go.

Here's a Ditch Witch
digging tooth.

A stove leg
and that thing
you put it on there

and you've got an elephant.

See the elephant?

Here's an old bathtub leg.

A claw-foot bathtub leg
and that stove part...

You stick 'em together,
you got a camel.

See his mouth?

DAN: I really, truly
believe that art
should be put into schools.

And it should be
a major subject because,

even though people
were calling me a dummy,

I was a special-ed kid,

I found love and self-respect
and everything else in art,

and it made me feel good.

I got saved. It saved me.

A Native American said
that if you work
with your hands,

you're a laborer.

If you work with your hands
and your mind,
you're a craftsperson.

If you work
with your hands, mind,

heart and soul,
you're an artist.

(LOONS CALLING)

CHARLES:
My father is an eagle.

My mother is a raven.

My father is respected
very, very much in the clan.

And that is why
an eagle's so dear to me.

When we rescue
an endangered eagle

and nurture him
back to health,

seeing him fly once again...

And get the second chance...

It's like watching
our great spirit of freedom
take flight.

When they leave us,
they go with our spirit.

And they take it with them

hopefully to our
ancestors above.

(CLARINET PLAYING)

DAVID: We're at the
Eldridge Street Synagogue,

which is the oldest
synagogue in America.

It has a great feeling.
When I'm here,
I feel like I'm back,

playing for my
ancestors again.

My name's David Krakauer,
and I play klezmer music.

Between 1880 and 1920,

there was a huge migration
of Eastern European Jews
to America.

It's really a miracle
that klezmer music

actually survived
the holocaust

because of the recordings
made in New York City.

(BAND PLAYING)

Tradition always
has to be living,
it always has to be ongoing.

So, the way
I play klezmer music

also freely blends
a lot of the traditions

that I've grown
up listening to.

Great jazz players,
Sidney Bechet,
Louis Armstrong.

James Brown
and Jimi Hendrix
are big influences, too.

When I'm playing music
and I'm really,

really into it,
it's very cathartic.

It's kind of like
having primal-scream therapy,

like, every single day.

(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)

MAN 1: All the dreams
and all the prayers

are before the light.
The sun is rising.

When it hits you,
then turn and do the dream.
Make it real.

MAN: I came from Europe
when I was 17
to follow my dreams.

You know, people always
dream of coming to America

and then seeing
what it's really like
with their own eyes.

It's always been
a great dream of mine.

Every kid's dream
in Little League is to play
the major leagues.

They're searching
for that one perfect swing

where it comes off the bat,

and you never feel it.

When I saw the Met
for the first time,

it was just
the ultimate thing of beauty
for me, to look at it and go,

"Oh, my God. That's my dream.
I want to sing there."

(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)

1ST BROTHER: We came to
United States to have
a better life, to work hard,

so we can have what we
always been dreaming

since we was little,
you know?

To have our own house,
our own family...

(PRAYING IN SPANISH)

Amen.

We grew up
without my father.

And so, my mother
she was the inspiration.

You know what I remember?
"Come on, guys, learn this."

And she would stop cooking
so she'd show us a step
or something.

And she would, you know,
she's kind of little, fat...

Chubby. Chubby.
Chubby.

She really tell us
how to be real brothers.

How to help each other,
you know?

To feel that you have
a family, you know?
We have that.

(SALSA MUSIC PLAYING)

He's the oldest.
I'm the oldest.

You can see his face,
you know?

He looks very tired now.

No, no. I'm the oldest.

I'm 30 years old,
and I've been dancing
for eight years.

1ST BROTHER: He's the one
who introduced us
into the salsa world.

When I came here
and I saw them dance,
I was like,

"Wow. I want to
dance like that."
You know?

Now he's our inspiration.
2ND BROTHER:
Inspiration. Yeah.

He's been winning
so many competitions
and everything,

so now we see my brother
dancing and are like,

"Oh, damn." Now we want
to look like him, you know?

1ST BROTHER: Salsa,
for me, it's like love,
passion, sensual.

The salsa used to be
more traditional
and more slow.

We changed the salsa,
put in tricks,

make it a little bit
more fun.

All the ideas that I get,

I get it from
some people like
Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire...

I think that everybody
has passion.

You know, it's something
that everybody has inside.

And when you find out
that feeling inside of you,

you will never stop.

MICHAEL: It was the hardest
thing in the world
to hear my mother weeping

in the background
as the judge passed sentence
upon me.

I was lying to my mother,
stating that I wasn't hanging

with this guy I met
in high school.

And on one fateful night,
I decided to commit
armed robbery,

which cost me
six years of my life.

While I was incarcerated,
I continued to get
my education.

And I learned how to box.

Lot of guys have
been fighting since
they been little boys,

while I had
only been competing
for a couple years.

I was able to make up
for my lack of experience,
ring experience,

from my heart,
'cause my heart

carried me a whole
lot of the distance.

Come on.
Work a little bit harder
than that.

MICHAEL: I decided to say,
"Know what else?"

I didn't want to be
a old man on my rocking chair
saying, "What if?"

So I came out here
with my goals in mind...

and aimed for the Olympics,

which I was able to obtain
in a little under two years.

My name is Michael Bennett,
I'm a US Olympic athlete.

I represented us
as captain of the US
Olympic boxing team.

I set that goal for myself,
and I grabbed it
and I put it in my pocket.

I brought it home
to my mother to show her,

like, "Look at
the good job I did."

GEORGE: My name
is George Hernandez.

I'm the boxing instructor
here at Garfield Park

working, training with kids,
and teaching them how to box.

My job is very hard.
I have to compete
with drugs,

the streets,
the gangbangers...

GEORGE: Looking real good.
That's it.

You can?
You want to try it?

I think I got
about eight or nine kids

on my wall already
that are dead.

These kids are not
gonna box anymore.

It's over.

That, to me,
is the hardest thing to do.

When you go up
to these kids and you see
them for that last time

when they're laid
out in that casket,

and they're cold.

They're cold.

That's the hardest thing.

Yeah.
That's the hardest thing.

MICHAEL: A host of other men
that I met along my path

took time out to invest in me.

I'm trying to give back.
You know,

trying not to allow
the streets to swallow him up.

Because as long
as he stays in here,
he's safe.

He treated me
like I was special.

He'd run and play with me.

He like a father to me.

Seeing as you
are the boxer...

MICHAEL: Right now,
you're looking at the future.

And truly, if God
blesses me, to bless him,

you'll see him
somewhere along these lines

as being
a champion as well.

And hopefully,
in some Olympics, maybe
eight years from now.

(BOTH LAUGHING)

ERIK: I think all
the things that you need

to survive and do well
on a mountain

also help you
do well in life.

I've been learning
how to use ingenuity.

To use innovation
to kind of reach beyond
the obvious

and find
these secret systems

that enable me to do things
that I might not
have thought I could do.

My name is Erik Weihenmayer.
I love to climb mountains,

ice climb, rock climb...

For the last few years,
I've been trying to climb

what is called
"the seven summits."

The highest peak in each
of the seven continents.

That's pretty wild, I guess,
for a blind person.

I mean, being a blind
mountain climber

is sort of like being
a Jamaican bobsledder.

(BABY CRYING)

When I went blind,
there was a time

that I thought
that life was filled

with a lot of loss
and not a lot of gain.

Sometimes things
are taken away

and sometimes things
are given to you.

And you have to appreciate
the things that you have.

Erik is what I would
refer to as a pioneer
of the impossible.

Erik's already
got a large part

of the seven summits
under his belt.

He's got Denali, Aconcagua,
Kilimanjaro,

and Vinson already climbed.

Now this is my kind of ice.

Keep on truckin', man.
You look great.

ERIK: When I'm reachin' out
and swinging my ice tool,

you know, I'm pretty
sure it's a good hit,

but you're never
really 100% sure.

Oops, watch out.

There you go.

ERIK: The beauty of climbing
is the idea that
you're putting your life

in someone's hands,
and they're putting
your life in my hands.

That's a good feeling
to know people
trust you that much.

Some people collect,
you know,

like, antiques
or baseball cards.

For me,
I just like to sort of
collect experiences.

Whatever it is,
just trying to soak it up.

Get as much
out of that as I can.

Please.
We discovered a new grade.
That's, like, grade nine.

Is that grade nine? Okay.

'Cause you have to
grade it, like,

two grades higher
when you close your eyes.

(LAUGHING)
There you go.

ERIK: For me,
all the great things that
have ever come to me

have come through
reaching out.

And I think life is sort of
an ongoing process

of reaching out
into the darkness

when you really don't know
what you're gonna find.

MAN: Now we're off
to climb Mount Everest,

probably the most difficult
and the highest mountain

in the world
at 29,000 feet.

And this is gonna prove
to be the most difficult one
that he undertakes.

He breaks all the molds
and perceptions
that people have

about blind people
and challenged people today.

He's a great example
of true inspiration.

We did it, buddy.
We did it!

We did it.

Proved everybody else.

Good work.
Good job.

We did it, man. Whoo!
We're on top of the world.

We are on top of the world.

Yes, it hurts.
It hurts to feel like

you're not doing
what you could do.

Or to feel like the world
is crushing on you.

Or to feel like
you're nobody.

Or to feel like everything
is going against you.

Many of you come to Glide

because you feel
some human connection.

Many of you come to Glide

because you are looking
to be reunited.

Many of you come to Glide
because you want some spirit.

You want to be lifted up.
You want to cry.

You want to moan.
You want to shout.

You want to raise your hands.
You want to clap your hands.

(PEOPLE CLAPPING)
That's why we come together.

CECIL: When I first came
here 38 years ago,

I decided that I wanted
a church that was inclusive.

So the first thing
I did is went out

in the Tenderloin
area here,

and began to relate
to the people

that were on
the fringes of society.

People that felt
that they had no voice.

And secondly,
this church had a celebration

where we had gospel,
contemporary music,
freedom songs...

♪ Stand up and

ALL:
♪ Praise him

♪ If you know
he's in the room

♪ You've got to

♪ Praise him

♪ Yeah

♪ Come on and join me

♪ Praise him

♪ If you know that
he died for you

♪ Hey, we're talking to you ♪

CECIL: We were not even
concerned about
ideologies for a while.

We were more concerned
that we could find
a better home

and a better community
for all people.

♪ Hallelujah, praise him

♪ Praise him

♪ Praise him

♪ You've got to lift him up

♪ Praise him

♪ You've got to lift him up

♪ Praise him

♪ Now come on,
come on, come on

♪ Praise him ♪

(ALL APPLAUDING)

CECIL: Janice Mirikitani
is my wife, and what a wife.

And what a worker.

We try to make sure
that nobody overshadows
the other.

JANICE:
When I met Cecil,

he was this crazy,
radical, on-the-edge guy.

This was in 1965.
And he was out
in the streets,

bringing in the people
who were lying down drunk,
totally strung out...

He was daring the church
to come down
off of its piety and say,

"Here is a feasting table.
Sit. Come.
You are all welcome."

We started
a meal program here,

just from a corps
of volunteers.

A program that feeds
a million and a half meals
a year.

I like the food,
especially the chicken
on Thursday.

I'm on a pension myself,
'cause I'm a retiree.

And towards
the end of the month,
you know,

like, it really helps out.

CECIL:
Whatever they're into,
when they come to Glide,

we accept them as they are,

and hope that they will
be able to do something
with their lives.

The power is in their hands.

It's in their voice.

That's your first step.
You've got to
want to be helped.

You've got to want
to help yourself.

If you don't want
to help yourself,

it's a continuous cycle
out here.

It's a good job.
And it's keeping me
from being in the line,

'cause I've been
on that side.

I had a slight gap
in my employment history

between 1968 and 1995.

♪ I feel better

♪ So much better

♪ Since I laid
my burdens down ♪

CECIL: We have been called,
as the church,
to lead the nation.

To bring justice.

We should stop
tryin' to get folks
to go to heaven or hell

and get folks to live
with each other here
on the earth, right now.

CECIL:
I want to see your eyes
opening up

with not the shades
or shadows covering them

but love,
beaming with light
from your eyes,

which tells me
it's coming from your soul.

I want that...
heart and soul.

I want heart and soul.

♪ Have a little faith in me

♪ And have
a little faith in me

♪ And have
a little faith in me

♪ And have
a little faith in me ♪

COMPUTERIZED VOICE:
I am 36 years old,
and I have cerebral palsy.

As you can see,
I use my computer
to speak for me.

When I was born,
the doctors told my parents

to put me in an institution.

I am lucky that my parents
did not do that,

or I might not have been able
to be here today.

DICK: This special bond
developed between Rick and I

when Rick was first born,

and we started doing
everything together.

And I think the bond
just got stronger
and stronger

as Rick grew and got older.

(PEOPLE CHEERING)

Boston is the only
marathon in the world

where you have to run
a certain time
depending on your age.

They were using Rick's age
for us to qualify.

So that meant we had to run
under two hours
and 50 minutes.

It was Rick that
got us into running,

and I wouldn't
be running today
if Rick didn't ask me to.

(GUN FIRES)

RICK: The Boston
Marathon is the one event

that I look forward
to all year long.

It is definitely
my favorite race.

RICK: The people along
the way are the best.

They have such enthusiasm
that when my dad
and I run by,

the adrenaline rush
is unbelievable.

ANNOUNCER: Dick Hoyt,
pushing son Rick.

Dick and Ricky Hoyt
at the finish line yet again.

DICK: Rick and I
compete as a team.

I have no desire
to go out and run on my own.

I don't feel there is
anything that Rick and I

can't accomplish together.

Both Rick and Dick
are such an inspiration
to this city.

Competing in their
18th marathon,

together they have proven
that anything is
possible and achievable,

as long as you
set your mind to it.

DICK: Rick is the athlete,

and I'm just out there
loaning him my arms
and my legs,

so that he's able to compete
like everybody else.

I am the body,
Rick is the heart,
and mobility is freedom.

(PEOPLE CHEERING)

♪ Here in this land
of opportunity where

♪ Success and failure
rest side by side

♪ Big old roads
run coast to coast

♪ Lots to see if you
could catch a ride

♪ But the world
don't bother me none

♪ Don't want nothin'
I can't get myself

♪ There's still things
to be done

♪ Till the bell rings out
for me on judgment day

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ Down this great highway
we call the future

♪ With no one but ourselves
in the way

♪ Yeah, if I stumble,
gonna keep on movin'

♪ And lookin'
for a better day

♪ When the sun
comes shinin', baby

♪ I'll be walkin'

♪ No finger
pointin' at anyone

♪ No bigotry,
no guns a-firin'

♪ No problem under the sun

♪ But the world
don't bother me none

♪ Don't want nothin'
I can't get myself

♪ There's still
things to be done

♪ Till the bell rings out
for me on judgment day

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ And if I never get
myself to heaven

♪ At least I know I've tried

♪ To give my life
some sort of meaning

♪ Hope my exit's
easy when I die

♪ But the world don't
bother me none, no

♪ Don't want nothin'
I can't get myself

♪ There's still
work to be done

♪ Till the bell rings out
for me on judgment day

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ On judgment day ♪