24 Hours on Craigslist

Is Craigslist Shangri-La? The site might be a near-perfect democratic model, but based on the anthropological examination 24 Hours on Craigslist — made up of interviews with people posting everything from apartment shares to bondage services — utopia is a little ho-hum. Subjects like the Ethel Merman cross-dresser and the flash mob who play a version of duck-duck-goose called Boutros-Boutros-Ghali may sound watchable enough, but briefly referenced postings (like the dreamer hoping to trade a dead raccoon for a Sopranos DVD) are far more enticing. A less limited approach — with the filmmakers focusing on just one day of postings — would have added spice.

EXTRAS In a ”Behind the Curtain” featurette, Craig himself reports: ”As a nerd, I take things very literally. I’m very naive and very innocent. I don’t know how to do things in an atmosphere of malice or even duplicity.” A making-of doc reveals that the film crew was recruited, naturally, via Craigslist, and in another segment, director Michael Ferris Gibson compares the site’s cultural stew to the Tower of Babel. The deleted scenes, meanwhile, point to the need for an overhauled edit: The butler-for-hire’s combover-in-the-wind moment alone would have upped the ante.