User Reviews

I have long been a fan of the documentaries of Rick Sebak. His PBS films are nice because instead of celebrating the extraordinary, they celebrate the seemingly mundane aspects of our culture and breath life into them. He's made some fascinating films about unusual buildings, hot dogs, old fashioned amusement parks and the like and whenever one of his films appears on TV, I try to watch it. However, I must also say that sometimes making SOME mundane topics interesting is too big a task--such is the case with "A Flea Market Documentary". Sebak and his crew bounce about the United States interviewing people who buy and sell at these flea markets. The trouble is, almost none of this is very interesting. So, while he tries to instill a sense of excitement about the topic, I found myself bored to tears. It was, in many ways, like a show about ear wax or paper clips or dirt---just not enough to make it worth an hour of my life. My advice is just try some of his other films--they really can be a lot more interesting than this one.

A Flea Market Documentary (2001)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Decent documentary from director Rick Sebak has him crossing the country from California to Washington D.C. as he takes a look at flea markets, the people who shop there and those who wake up early each day to set their things out. There's no denying that this thing really isn't anything special but there's some mild charm that comes with it and if you're got a hour to kill it's worth watching. I will say that what we're given is pretty much a straight look at the flea market and its people. The director never really digs into the lives of any of the people we meet and we never really get into the minds of the people who set up everything. There are some interesting ideas touched upon including people who make their living doing this so it would have been nice learning more about them and whether or not setting up like this actually pays the bills. We also see a young Chinese girl who works at the market to help her mother who doesn't appear to be able to speak English. It would have been interesting hearing more about these two and especially whether the child would prefer doing other things that kids do.