Educational Media Reviews Online

Vita Needle, a company based in Needham, Massachusetts, has a unique workforce. The company only hires the elderly. This film demonstrates how elderly workers loyally perform virtually all duties in the needle making facility. The workers are happy and well treated. Many of these workers look to their jobs as a source of fulfillment and as a productive use of their time. One worker commented on how the manual labor has therapeutic effects on her hands. Another remarked that her apprehension toward using a computer dissolved after she learned how effective she could be with its aid. The film is replete with interviews and anecdotes of these sprightly characters.

The film goes deeper into the lives of the workers and gives the viewer brief, and sometimes not so brief, biographies of the workers. This is a “feel good” film about the lives of admirable elderly Americans who work for a company with admirable motives. Viewers should be aware that the film is entirely biographical and demonstrative. That is, there is no revelation of any drawbacks to such a hiring policy.