by MARK SLUTSKY

In 2001, inspired by Ken Kesey's '60s consciousness-raising bus trips, actor Woody Harrelson and a motley crew of activist buddies embarked on a 2,100-kilometre road trip they dubbed the SOL (Simple Organic Living) tour. Travelling by biodiesel-fuelled bus and bicycle, the gang, which included a yoga teacher, a raw food chef, a hemp activist and various other sympathetic types, travelled down the West Coast of the U.S., preaching and practising their brand of environmentally aware living. Canadian filmmaker Ron Mann (Grass) went along for the ride. The result is Go Further, a well-meaning but didactic documentary.

Go Further is deadly earnest and flaky; more than a few of the events in the film seem baldly set up for the camera; there's a dumbass dream sequence and the music, featuring performances by Dave Matthews and others, is frankly appalling. For all that, though, it's a lot less dismal than it sounds. The movie does a good job of outlining the urgency of the issues close to Mr. Harrelson's heart - the devastation of old-growth forests, the shitty destructiveness of the American diet, the increasing amount of carcinogens in our environment. For those receptive to it, perhaps the movie will serve as a call-to-arms. And it is rather entertaining to see a movie star like Woody Harrelson doing yoga and talking about smoking pot.

Mann seems to have understood that the audience would need a less-committed character to identify with, and that comes in the form of Steve Clark, a production assistant and a self-admitted junk food addict. Unsurprisingly, Clark (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Luke Wilson) goes through a personal transformation, discarding chocolate bars for avocado pudding and tossing the smokes. Though Clark is likeable, his conversion to the cause isn't wildly convincing, as he seems pretty receptive to the idea from the get-go and doesn't really put up much resistance to the group's coercions.

If the idea of watching a movie star and his self-serious hippie buddies spread their gospel sounds appealing, you might like Go Further; others might find it too flaky for its own good.

Go Further opens Friday, July 9

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