Choppertown: The Sinners

Rating NR Formats DVD Genre documentary Starring Rico Fodrey, Rob Fortier, Cole Foster, Gary Frye, James Intveld, Directed by Zack Coffman, Scott Di Lalla Publisher One World Studios Ltd. External Links Official Choppertown: The Sinners Website

If the choppers built by OCC in American Chopper were to be considered as major studio film productions, then the choppers built in Choppertown should definitely be categorized as much more resourceful and scrappy independents.

This interesting documentary by Zack Coffman and Scott Di Lalla is about a Southern California chopper/social club called "Sinners" and an inside look at their slice of life. It explores the plan from Sinners kingpin Rico and the member/punk rocker Kutty who decide to pull in favors to build Kutty's next chopper.

Sticking to their preferred "old-school" look, they start with a Harley-Davidson frame from 1960's and gather other main components like a really old oil tank and tattered leather seat that's to be installed in "as-is" condition. Rico has his own Shakespearean-esque philosophy about it stating, "By using the old parts, it maintains the soul of its previous owners."

During the building process, some of the colorful members showcase their side talents for the camera. James, one of the original Sinners, is the lead singer of a Rockabilly band and provides his service for Sinners' many parties. One member cuts everyone's hair, one paints, one has old parts and others just put in their time and elbow grease. The funniest member was Jason, who provided Kutty and Rico with an old gas tank with a baby doll shoved in its hole. Jason comes into shots in home-made superhero costume on skateboard, cruising around his shop, then later we see him dragging a piece metal pipe on tail of his truck, creating sparks on the highway.

With no oversized warehouse for a shop, no shiny tools, no new parts, and no fabrication equipment, all members chip in their two cents to create something cool and original.

In Sinners' universe, only one thing prevails over everything and that is brotherhood amongst the members. Brotherhood like no other as they live their life as close-knitted friends and soldiers with a common goal of being gear-heads for life.

Doubling the performed songs in the documentary as part of the score and utilizing some cinematic shots like, magic hour, framing through the old car windows, tracking shots on freeways, and etc, filmmakers added special touches to make it more visually pleasant.

In "x-tras" section, filmmakers show various short shots of Sinners cruising the highways to minor case of bloopers and some in-between shots. Bit disappointed to wanting more, I quickly came to a conclusion that it will be bit difficult to make a behind the scene documentary about a documentary.