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Divided Highways: The Interstates and the Transformation of American Life. Prod. by Lawrence R. Hott and Tom Lewis, 1997. 86 mins. (Films for the Humanities and Sciences, Box 2053, Princeton, NJ 08543-2053)
Divided Highways suffers from many of the worst problems of recent documentaries. It is overblown. Does Stephen Ambrose really believe that the interstate highway system is "the greatest achievement in the history of man"? In an attempt to be cute, the film interviews media celebrities such as the Magliozzi brothers, Molly Ivins, and Dave Barry while ignoring substantive work by environmentalists, economists, transportation planners, and historians. It is, I would argue, mis-focused, emphasizing the negative impact of the interstate as primarily the destruction of inner city neighborhoods and downplaying...