American Standoff

Barbara Kopple, the woman behind the incomparable Harlan County U.S.A., produced this equally impressive documentary about the American labour movement. Focusing on the struggle between the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the corporate bean counters at Overnite Transportation (and their parent company, Union Pacific), the film also features the battle between the overly slick James P. Hoffa and the reforming forces of Ron Carey as a backdrop. It'll be a stony hearted viewer who doesn't come away from American Standoff without a slightly revised opinion of Hoffa and his father, who are presented in a somewhat favourable but not entirely uncritical light, but the real heroes are of course the stalwart employees who, to this day, are manning the picket lines in front of Overnite terminals across the country. This is a tremendously moving film that should make all shipping managers check to make sure they're only dealing with union freight lines.