It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I saw some poor reviews and thought that I should add my $0.02. This movie is very inspiring and I highly recommended it to everybody. This is definitely a diamond-in-the-rough type of movie. Just get it, watch it, and you will be inspired to follow your bliss.One of the scenes talked about Joseph Campbell advice to his graduating students. He said "Don't do what Daddy says". Because Daddy has one interest in mind for you - your security. And if you bargain away your life for security now, you will NEVER find your bliss.Joseph Campbel quote: "The job of science is to give you an image of the universe - what it's like, what it actually is like. This changes from decade to decade. There's no science that says, "I've found the truth." It's a working hypothesis and the next season we'll have another structure. The problem of mythology is to relate that found truth the the actual living of a life. The myth has to deal with the cosmology of the day and it's no good when it's based on a cosmology that's out of date. That's one of our problems. I don't see any conflict between religion and science. Religion has to accept the science of the day and penetrate it to the mystery. The conflict is between the science of 2000 BC and the science of 2000 AD. This is one of the problems with our tradition, where our inherited mythology, the Judeo-Christian tradition, relates to the near east in the first millennium BC and has nothing to do with life here. Everything has to be explained. A mythological image that has to be explained to the brain is not working. When you move through a culture field that is so alien to your own that the images don't click on a response and a recognition then you're out of sync."

This movie will surely appeal to misfits and dreamers of all stripes. It starts off promisingly, introducing a few of Joseph Campbell's key ideas, and even a couple of his subversive ones. Unfortunately, it soon devolves into interviews with several men, most of whom have unconventional occupations, and all but one of whom are white. These men delight in lecturing the audience about the ups and downs and eventual success they achieved during their own "journeys," using a profusion of nauseating "you"-statements instead of "I"-statements. The takeaway from this - that you too can have a fulfilling life if you just do what you love - is nothing new and can be heard in your local college's career counseling office. Oh, but be prepared for the road to be rocky along the way. Heard that one before?This is by a director who made his living making commercials - it shows in his visual style. He has some talent in this area, but he should have left the writing to someone else.

As an English Literature major I found Finding Joe a superb documentary. I whole-heartedly agree with the comment about the cinematography as well! It was stunning. Joseph Campbell was an intelligent mythologist as well as writer and he really knew how life was supposed to be lived. Campbell's influence is still very apparent in today's society thus I hope many people discover this film. This documentary showcases the "hero's journey" and the challenges the hero faces. This concept is universal and applies to everyone and all the interviewee's in the documentary share their own stories and adventures. Between the interviews and a group of adorable kids acting out the journey (even fighting bad guys with swords and the like), watching Finding Joe is a great way to discover your true self and the happiness within you.

It pains me to write anything less than a stellar review for any film promoting the works of Joseph Campbell but I need to be honest here in saying that I didn't think it was a very good way of introducing people to Joe's work.Pros:This film does go over many of Joe's basic teaching's mostly from "The Hero's Journey". Most importantly even if you have heard it all before it will likely make you think about some important things you have forgotten or lost sight of in your life, just seeing the film pulled my friend out of a depression phase he was in. It interviews an interesting range of people from philosophers to Tony Hawk.The film is technically very well done, clean images and good sound with the small exception of a few edit points where we see peoples lips moving after they stop talking for a brief moment that only a quick eye would notice.Cons:The film has a feel similar to the distasteful works of "What the Bleep do We Know" and other self help style movies, although there is no pseudo science involved. The music score and over used shots of people smiling in slow motion make much of the movie feel like an advertisement. I didn't care for the use of children in costumes to portray some of the concept in the film, but it might make sense considering this is like a child's view of Joe's work.Also it should probably be called "Losing Joe". After the very brief bio with some stills of Joe all we ever see is his quotes. Not one clip of him speaking or any in depth look at his heroes Journey. I know that the director wanted to make it a story about how he found Joe but that doesn't come through in the movie either.Overall:The movie has a good message and if you want to see Joe's work spread to more people than you should support this effort. I would however think that showing the Bill Moyer's interviews to the Joe uninitiated would be a better start.