And yet, there are moments in this film that restrain me from cheering Winter on in his quest. Every moment where they show him changing in his car, frantically twitching from one too many cups of coffee, wrecking the only lengthy relationship he’s ever had in his life, sucking spilled coffee frantically out of his car’s cup holder with a straw, etc., I just see a man obsessed to the point of ruin.
I can’t cheer for that.
What I can do, however, is thank Heretic Films for showing me this side of human nature. Sitting comfortable in my own home and with my own obsessive ticks and quirks, it never occurred to me the lengths that some individuals are capable of going to just to meet their own inner needs, even if they are arbitrarily random needs such as frequenting every branch of a particular coffee shop.
From the moment I popped this DVD into my player, I’d expected something light-hearted and throwaway. What else other than sheer throwaway entertainment could this be, y’know? Instead, I get a glimpse into someone else’s soul and get to vividly see that others are struggling to give purpose to their lives, just as I am.
Funny. I’d never thought that one of the ways I’d get another small kernel of understanding my species and myself would be by looking into the spent dregs of a Starbucks coffee cup. In the end, I find myself heartily recommending this movie to anyone curious as to where obsession and the very human need to have a purpose will drive someone.
Neither Winter's website nor his documentary are affiliated with Starbucks Coffee — and neither is this review, as there are no Starbucks in my small Arkansas town.
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