I suppose that statistically, having half a million homeless from a population of 330 million doesn't seem that high (like 0.125%), but this film strips away the sterility of that data and takes us on a three year journey with people who spend their nights outside in a variety of locations for a variety of reasons. Some of these people make an active choice to live their lives differently but most have been forced into their situation by adverse circumstances, addiction, family breakup, mental illness - or a combination of those and many other factors. Set amidst the contrasting wealth and glitter of cities like LA and Seattle, these hand held video-diary style of reports go some way to illustrating the human nature of the their lives and aspirations set against seasonal backdrops that present their evolving scenarios very personally. In many ways this puts just about the entire gamut of human prejudices and judgmental behaviour under a very simple microscope, and by letting the people themselves tell us their stories without any guidance narration or opinionated editorial it provides us with collection of eye-witness accounts that resonate profoundly, but that also prove to be quite entertaining and quirky too. These are not just people with a whine, a moan and an axe to grind; but they are often erudite and intelligent in their expressiveness and there is an openness that isn't always likeable but that is always plausible. It's an observation piece really rather than anything in-depth, and it really only scratches the surface - which is disappointing at times - but it's still a characterful way to demonstrate the nature of a growing problem that needn't just apply to the USA and is worth a look.