REVIEW BY ELLIOTT KOTEK

Moving Pictures Magazine

Nyks begins his documentary by exploring the remarks about whichthe media has been making a fuss for the past eight years: this countryis deeply divided... culture war in this country... reds and blues...rural vs. urban... a country split by race, religion, economicdisparity...

So, setting out from the Southwest on a journeycross-country to the Northeast, Nyks puts microphones in front ofdemocrats, republicans and the anybody elses on the street, and asksthem to address six questions that struck at the fundamentals of whatdivides us, trying to come to terms with the cause of the conflict.

Journalists,media commentators, civil libertarians and evangelists each get theirsay on the issues at hand - and Nyks, by serving up the information inbite-sized topical chunks, keeps the conversations tight and on point.By mixing the media with superb graphic animation by Mary Hawkins andChris Hutchinson, as well as visual effects by Jason Martin, film clipsand narrated cheat sheets that help keep track of historical context,Nyks not only helps us digest the discourse, but forces us to enjoy it. 

Anenjoyable, bipartisan documentary about the polarized politicallandscape??? What is the world coming to??? Well, I guess we'll findout at the end of the year... or perhaps in another 20 years when we'reable to look back at this moment and marvel at the political map of theUnited States, painted in purple.