Hands on a Hard Body: The Documentary

Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary is a 1997 film directed by S. R. Bindler[1] documenting an endurance competition that took place in Longview, Texas. The yearly competition pits twenty-four contestants against each other to see who can keep their hand on a pickup truck for the longest amount of time.[2] Whoever endures the longest without leaning on the truck or squatting wins the truck. Five-minute breaks are issued every hour, and fifteen-minute breaks every six hours.[3]

The documentary follows the 1995 competition which lasted for seventy-seven continuous hours. The film garnered the audience award for best documentary at the 1997 Los Angeles Film Festival.[4] Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino referred to Hands on a Hardbody as one of his go-to movie recommendations.[5]

Large portions of the film's audio were included on the "Something for Nothing" episode of the public radio show This American Life in 1997.[6]

At the time of his death in 2006, film director Robert Altman was developing a feature film based on the documentary.[7]

In 2013, the film was digitally re-mastered and released for sale online.[8]