Educational Media Reviews Online

Catching Out, a film by Sarah George, is a film about train hopping and living free and is also a story of modern day American hobos. The American Heritage dictionary defines hobo as one who wanders from place to place without a permanent home or means of livelihood. Today we call that homelessness. Historically a hobo was considered a vagrant or tramp. The Great Depression caused a lot of folks to hit the rails. The people in this film are different. They have taken on the hobo life style to find adventure, to travel and to get away from the responsibilities of mainstream living. Lee is an articulate and intelligent middle aged man who finds this lifestyle “very American.” He is also an artist who is recording the stories of hobo life. You might say he is a hobo philosopher. Switch and Baby Girl became a couple on the road. They would be happy if society would leave them alone but they have had to face the reality of raising a child. Jessica is a college student who dropped out of school to become a rail rider for a time and found it easy to survive without a key to a house. We also meet Doug who became an attorney but still yearns for the freedom of the road.

Throughout the film we see many views of the freight trains that cross the western states and the beautiful country side that we all love to see. The soundtrack is by Pete Droge.

At the end of the film there is a disclaimer of note: “This film does not encourage you to ride freight trains. Trainhopping is dangerous and illegal. The risks are real. However, if you choose to hit the rails, please respect the trains and the workers. Ride safe.” Perhaps this should have been at the beginning.

The content of the film is interesting and informative and might be useful in an American Studies course. Recommended.