I just saw Long Gone at the Gothenburg film festival, and had the chance to chat with one of the directors afterwards. The film, shot during seven summers, lets us in on the little known lifestyle of train-hoppers in the USA. The story focuses on five of these characters and we get to hear their stories about how they became what they are, and what it's like riding cargo trains, confronting the police, and be a homeless war veteran who can't find a place in regular society.
During the first half of the film, i felt a little bit uneasy about what i felt was a romantic glorification of the lifestyle of a bunch of people with severe problems -- most of the guys portrayed in the film are either alcoholics or drug addicts. However, i had changed my mind after seeing the whole picture. Long Gone is a bare-bones documentary with no narration. The editing doesn't really make the film point in any direction, which may make the scenes seem a bit straggling. However, life doesn't always follow the dramatic rules of regular film making, and still there is a very compassionate overtone to the whole film.
If you have seen "Dark Days" (if you haven't, i recommend it), you'll see the similarities. But while Dark Days is stylish and nicely edited, Long Gone has a much more amateurish feel to it, be it positive or negative.