MovieChat Forums > Craigslist Joe (2014) Discussion > Very nice overall, but it seemed somewha...

Very nice overall, but it seemed somewhat contrived

posted 12 years ago by bd74
5 replies | jump to latest

I don't know (and/or I didn't notice) if Joe actually mentioned in his Craigslist posts that he was making a documentary. I suppose he did, because it seems hard to believe that some of the people in the movie were a little too willing to let a random stranger "crash" in their home for a night. I simply find it hard to believe that a person can post a Craigslist ad looking for "a place to crash", and that another person would be willing let a complete stranger spend a night in their home without knowing if the person is a thief or a con artist or just plain crazy. He must have mentioned in his posts/replies that he was making a documentary.

Another thing, regarding the "sudden" trip to Mexico, I don't think it was a spur-of-the-moment decision to travel down to Mexico, because at the beginning of the film we saw Joe put his passport in his backpack. Why would he need his passport unless he knew he was going to travel out of the country? I'm sure he didn't take the passport just to have it as a form of ID. After all, there's a scene that shows Joe driving -- he wouldn't be legally able to drive unless he's got a drivers' license with him.

Although I personally have used Craigslist, I've never actually used it for the things Joe used it for in this film. So, I really wouldn't know whether or not people on Craigslist are as welcoming and as hospitable and as generous as the ones in this film. But regardless, this is overall a very nice film. It kind of makes me wanna try using Craigslist for road trips and the like.

BTW, I had this feeling of deja vu upon seeing Joe for the first time. He looks very familiar to me. Maybe he looks like someone famous, but I just can't think of who that person is.

[–] rmiikku 12 years ago

But there is also this service called couch surfing, so it would seem like people let random strangers stay at their place all the time. On that sense it wouldn't be strange if you could find places to stay from internet.

[–] Matthew_Coady 11 years ago

I've been on both ends of couch surfing. It's been great and I've met some wonderful people. I think we forget sometimes, the vast majority of people are good and helpful, it's the *beep* who get noticed.

[–] seefishbee 11 years ago

@bd74 I think you may be thinking of E (Kevin Connolly) from "Entourage" ...thats who he reminds me of..especially at the end when he got a little thinner....

"the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing"

[–] franklindf 11 years ago

I think Joe's strategy was a little bit different from how you explained. He was using craigslist mainly to meet people and then he would:

- manipulate the connections by gaining their trust
- eventually reveal his ulterior motive to secure food, housing, transportation (or anything else of value)
- capitalize on the connection
- thank them and act like a 'cool brother' about it.

[–] SparklingLily 11 years ago

Why would it be weird to bring a passport? This whole documentary was about him traveling by the seat of his pants never knowing where he was going to end up. It would be stupid to have a passport and NOT bring it on an adventure such as this one.

Plenty of people do this, as a woman who lives alone I sure wouldn't be hosting strange men any time soon but couchsurfing.com is filled with people who do this.