Heart of America

With its spectacular sweep of earthly treasures--the peak of Mt. Everest, a lush valley in the Western U.S., a whirl of land and sky as seen from the cockpit of an aerobatic flyer--America's Heart and Soul is an unusual Disney documentary visually grand yet thematically intimate, focusing on two dozen people from around the country who have found purpose through their passionate endeavors. First-time director Louis Schwartzberg embraces the soulful, gritty, sometimes painful cost of American freedom in the stories of cowboy Roudy Roudebush, a recovering alcoholic; Marc and Ann Savoy, Cajun musicians whose family has lived on the same Louisiana land for seven generations; and California dancer-mountainside rappeller Amelia Rudolph, who choreographs eccentric performances below the cliffs at Muir Beach. Chapters about ex-con Michael Bennett, who survived prison to become the U.S. Olympic Boxing Team captain, and the Reverend Cecil Williams, founder of a truly inclusive church in San Francisco, are particularly inspiring. --Tom Keogh