While the majority of the characters are objects of ridicule, there comes a point in the film where you sit back and realize how little they actually have, and that which makes them ridiculous evolves into a level of poignancy. Almost in spite of yourself you actually begin to feel sorry for them and the emptiness of their lives. To be able to achieve that type of result requires a very delicate touch from the director, and that Todd Rohal managed it says a lot for his skills.

I think a true measure of a movie's "independence" comes when you ask yourself if you could imagine a mainstream studio making this movie and getting the same result. In somebody else's hands, The Guatemalan Handshake would have ended up being merely ridiculous, with none of the underlying pathos that makes it worth watching.

The edition that will be for sale at the end of April is a two-disc set that comes with some really good features. One that I especially liked summed up what independent movie making is all about. There was one scene in the movie where Turkeylegs is using a rope swing to jump out into a river, and then bathing in the river in an inner tube. In order to get a camera onto a boat on the river, the filmmakers had to sneak it down the river past private houses, through downed trees, and over a small waterfall until they got to the desired location where the rest of the cast and crew were lurking in the bushes waiting for them. If that doesn't sum up the spirit of the independent filmmaking, I don't know what does.

The Guatemalan Handshake is a refreshing change from the formulaic rut that independent film seems to have fallen into. If you want to see a movie that will genuinely defy your expectations then this is the one for you. It will definitely give you something to think about.