The Last Truck

Bringing a human dimension to the headlines of plant closings, this documentary gives voice to some of the 2500 workers at the General Motors truck assembly plant in Moraine, OH, following its December 23, 2008, shutdown notice. It features commentary from dozens of workers, men and women, talking singly and in small groups about the closing, their lives at the plant, and what the future may hold. The film counts down the days, with workers expressing increasing anxiety and sadness over the loss of both income and their sense of shared coworker community. Its defining sequence comes during the plant's last day, as a crowd of workers, having finished their own tasks, follow the last truck down the assembly line to witness simultaneously its completion and the end of a way of life. The film is emotional without being maudlin. All audiences will find it a moving testament to the thousands of similar plant closings that have become all too common across America.—Lawrence R. Maxted, Gannon Univ. Lib., Erie, PA