Route One/USA

In this docudrama, filmmaker Robert Kramer, who has had long periods of residence in Europe, and an expatriate doctor friend of his, set out to rediscover their native country by traveling from Maine to Florida on old US Route 1, a major north-south route built before the interstate highway system was constructed. The doctor has just returned from a long stint of public service in Africa, and is undecided about what to do with his life. Despite an apparently determined attempt to dig into the seedy side of American life, the travelers run into one inspirational scene after another, and run into such luminaries as Pat Robertson and Jesse Jackson on the presidential campaign trail, and performers like Ossie Davis and Helen Hayes.