Joe Frank: Somewhere Out There

As a person familiar with many of Joe's radio shows, I expected a documentary as probing about Joe Frank's life as he, himself, was in his compelling take on the human condition.

I wanted to learn more about the man - and not listen to excerpts from radio shows where Joe talks about himself. I'd already heard all that. And those excerpts from radio shows comprised most of the movie.

Sycophantic talking heads make up the rest of the film. Friends, collaborators and fans talk about Joe in only glowing terms - it's like an infomercial. Many lost opportunities to ask followup questions when an interviewee said something about Joe that may be interesting. For example, like when Harry Shearer said Joe was a damaged individual. Or his wife said he had a lot of hope. What?!! Joe Frank had hope? How is that possible given the content of his shows? But no. End of interview.

Joe was erudite and possessed deep intellectual acuity. He had an uncanny ability to speak universal truths. He probed very difficult topics, questioning everything while revealing uncomfortable truths about himself. All within his radio programs. Again, in this film, I wanted more about the man himself. Like one reviewer here said" the Radio Lab tribute revealed more" about Joe than this documentary.

As a film buff, I also cringed at the amount of ham-handed imagery under many radio selections: if Joe mentioned eating, we see a plate with food on it.

Unfortunately, this film failed to reveal the man behind the microphone.

I felt like I was watching a student film.