Handle With Care (1977) - Jonathan Demme

What a bizarre, endlessly fascinating slice of Americana this film is.  Jonathan Demme's "Handle With Care' or 'Citizens Band' is a portrait of a small town and how it's connected through CB radios which form this sense of human connection.  It's a great ensemble piece with each character being interconnected through circumstance whether it is primarily through the radio, physically or both.  While the film is a nice piece of history a lot of themes ring incredibly true today in the age of the internet and social media.  Technology creates this type of secrecy or wall for us, almost like a fantasy world where we can be someone completely different or unique than who we truly are.   The character of Spider and his quest to regulate the airwaves was particularly amusing as was his alcoholic father, a complete asshole in life, but a kind, nice man while operating his CB radio.  Citizens Band works so well for its ability to both be highly entertaining, comedic, dramatic and intellectual.  Jonathan Demme has crafted a fascinating, well written film with lots of unique and interesting characters that is just fun and socially relevant as well.  In the end it is pretty surprising that this film isnt mentioned more when talking about Demme's filmography.

8/10

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