Thumb Tripping is what I like to call a 'sleeper'. It is not well known, I don't think it did very well at the box office and it just seemed to slip into obscurity. It's a shame, too, because it is a good movie that deserves a look. Michael Burns was a child actor who had a successful career as an young adult actor until he retired from acting to become a college professor. He plays Gary, a young guy who is traveling around the country between his freshman and sophomore college years. He's not really a hippie, just a free spirit. He meets Chae, played by the wonderful actress Meg Foster. Take a good look at her eyes, she has the most beautiful green eyes I have ever seen. They are such a light green color as to almost be translucent. Chae is more of a hippie than Gary, and they are attracted to one another. They decide to travel together and to accept all rides that are offered. Their first ride is with two hot-rodders (one of whom is played by Bruce Dern). The guys seem to dislike hippies and also seem to have a lot of built-up anger. After a few scary moments, during which Gary and Chae seem to be growing closer to each other, they are able to escape and decide to be more careful. Their adventures on the road continue and they meet a lot of different types of characters. Some of them include two hippies camping on the beach who share their soup with Gary and Chae, a trucker who wants Chae and won't let Gary stand in his way, a mother with kids in a WV who has serious mental issues (played by Joyce Van Patten) and finally they meet up with a couple who are out for a good time. It's a husband and wife who are somewhat of swingers and are definitely heavy drinkers. They go skinny dipping, visit a bar and things get out of control. After this, Gary decides to travel on his own. I would have liked for the movie to end differently, with Gary and Chae staying together, but I can see how it wouldn't have worked with that ending. This is a great movie of a time when people actually did hitchhike and had adventures on the road.
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