The Way We Get By: Movie Review (2009)

Directed by Aron Gaudet, 86 minutes.

Aron Gaudet’s terrific documentary, “The Way We Get By,” explores the best of Maine, certainly the best of those who reside in the Bangor area, and it does so with such skill and insight into the human condition, it’s no wonder it’s winning awards, from a Special Jury Award at the influential SXSW film festival to recently winning the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival.

Here’s hoping Gaudet and his producer, Gita Pullapilly, are prepared for more, because after seeing this movie, there’s no question that additional accolades and awards (perhaps even a shot at the big one) are coming their way.

The movie focuses on events that continue to take place at the Bangor International Airport, where dozens of troop greeters have greeted nearly one million troops since 2003 as they return from or leave for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the wrong hands, exploring such a topic could have been sentimental dreck. It could have been mishandled. It could have been overbearing.

It's none of those things.

The film follows three troop greeters--86-year-old Bill Knight, 75-year-old Joan Gaudet (the director’s mother) and 73-year-old Jerry Mundy. It tells their personal stories while weaving in and out of their self-imposed duties at BIA.

Each is faced with their share of challenges--Bill has cancer and a crushing amount of debt; Joan uses a walker and has a granddaughter about to be deployed to Iraq; Jerry has heart troubles and suffers tragedies not to be revealed here. And yet in spite of their own problems, each understands the personal costs of war and the significance of a handshake or a hug. Along with others, they gathered to show up for each flight that came into and out of BIA, regardless of the time of day.

And that’s the thing about the movie. Much of life, as they say, is just showing up. But how many do so without financial gain and in ways that are meaningful to strangers? The beauty and power of Gaudet’s film is that it reveals how important “just” showing up can mean to someone who has been away from their country, family and friends for years, and who enters an airport to be met by cheers and thank yous for their service by people they've never met.

“The Way We Get By” is a movie about moral integrity. Its focus is on those who for no other reason than to do the right thing, show up to do the right thing at such inconvenient times (3:30 AM anyone?) that many people would roll over and go back to sleep. It’s a documentary that’s so well done, and so subtle in how it can startle you with unexpected jolts of emotion, that you sit in admiration for its restraint and its artistry. It’s a beautiful, heartfelt movie about people overcoming their own difficulties to make a positive impact on the lives of others.

By the end of the movie, you not only feel as if you’ve come to know Bill, Joan and Jerry, but that you want to befriend them. And thank them.

Grade: A