runamokprods Understated, thoughtful documentary about different recent generations in America, and how their politics and upbringings intermeshed and evolved. As a film student in 1969 Ralph Arylck made a 15 minute short about a bright 4 year old boy who lived upstairs with hippie parents in Haight-Asbury. 4 year old Sean had tried pot, refused to wear shoes, etc. Now Arlyck sets out to find out what happened to Sean 30+ years later – was he a mess as some predicted? Had his upbringing left him free as others hoped? Of course the answer is far more gray and complex. And in examining Sean and his family, film-maker Arlyck also looks at his own. A quiet film, not deeply emotional, but a very interesting and worthy essay about parental ideals, family, and life.

Scroobious This movie should be called following Ralph. The director/narrator does include quite a bit of Sean, but it really becomes a means to discuss himself. I don't think this is a narcissistic move as much as an attempt to make a full length documentary out of some very intriguing and very short footage of a young Sean. The documentary is based around the director's old footage which is somewhat interesting, but it stretches thin when the director tries to pull it out into a full length.The premise is also intriguing. After seeing the footage of a young Sean I was very interested to find out who he had become as a man. And who he has become defeats expectations, not in such an uplifting way as surprising.I love a good documentary, especially one that is a character study. But in the modern vein of Michael Moore documentaries, the filmmaker too often becomes the film, or at least the voice that tells you what to think or how to feel about the subject matter. And this documentary makes those mistakes to the point that the subject isn't exactly followed as much as it meanders. If you haven't seen all of the Maysles brothers documentaries, watch those, see how a real documentary is made... and then maybe, consider seeing this.

MartinHafer Back in 1969, Ralph Arlyck made a small film about a neighbor boy named Sean. At the time, the film gained some notoriety and audiences were curious what would one day happen to this boy since he grew up in a Haight-Ashbury home with practically no structure or guidance. At four, he was walking the streets, taking pot and being his own boss.FOLLOWING SEAN is ostensibly a follow-up film in which Arlyck re-establishes contact with Sean and follows him in his adult years. However, Arlyck never really maintains this clear focus--often diverging into interviews and visits with Sean's extended family as well as Arlyck's. Because of this, the film seems, at times, less of a documentary or attempt to show cause and effect and more a long string of home movies strung together. This isn't all bad, as you do really get to know and care about the characters. However, if your goal is to really make a definitive statement on how these 60s "do as you please" morals affected them in later years, this isn't quite so clear--though there is a pattern, to a degree, of failed relationships--though this, unfortunately, would also mirror recent trends on marriage overall. So you are left wondering just how good or bad this odd childhood was long term--and the film kept me wondering. I did enjoy it--I'm just not sure what it all meant in regard to Sean, but it did have a lot to say about the tenuousness of relationships in general.

dazzlem I don't know if it was the mood I was in or what, but I just had a wonderful time with this movie. It's scope is epic. It covers 60 years of counter culture adventures big and small in 90 minutes. The film maker's whole life is here. The thing is decades in the making. We jump back and forth through space and time meeting a cast that runs the gambit from hero of the American Communist movement to capitalist Russian Trophy bride. FAR SUPERIOR to the similarly subjected over-hyped "Tarnation" of a few years ago. I guarantee you will like this movie. It's a great story told in a very cool way. A documentary that engages the way fictional narrative engages. This gets tossed around a lot in reviews but; It is a remarkable achievement.Selah.