Filmmaker Barr Weissman spent nearly six years making The
Secret to a Happy Ending, a documentary about Southern rock band the Drive-By
Truckers. The film arrives at an opportune time for the Truckers, who have a new
album and a growing fan base. The film delves into subjects as diverse as the
legacies of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the late Alabama Gov. George Wallace
and the prevalence of alcoholism and trailer-park meth labs. "This is a very
political band. What they understand is the power of telling stories," says Bryant
Simon, director of American studies at Temple University, who appears in the film.
"This is the other side of America where poverty is still the norm."