The History of Concrete

by Mike McGranaghan

Upon hearing the title The History of Concrete, you might think it sounds like the most boring movie in the world. Who cares about concrete, right? Writer/director John Wilson, star of the popular HBO series How to with John Wilson, has indeed made a documentary on the subject, but it’s also about a lot more. As used here, concrete is a jumping-off point for an often-hilarious exploration of the world around us.

Wilson narrates in second person, utilizing a lot of “ums” and stammers that make it sound as though he’s improvising. (He’s not.) The general framework is that, after the end of his show, he seeks to make a documentary about concrete, the substance that’s literally all around us that we somehow never think about. Investors are not exactly lining up to fund that idea. Inspiration hits after Wilson attends a Hallmark Channel screenwriting seminar. If he can follow their successful pattern of filmmaking, he might be able to assemble a saleable product.

Parts of the film are indeed about concrete. We meet a businessman who specializes in removing gum from sidewalks. There’s footage from a concrete convention, where the presenters talk about wanting to build a concrete structure on the moon, as well as from a bricklayers contest. The phenomenon of crumbling concrete buildings and bad patch-up jobs is explored with amusing visual examples culled from the streets of New York City. Emerging use of 3D printers to construct concrete buildings gets a few minutes of screen time.

More commonly, Wilson uses concrete as a springboard to go down other avenues, many comical, a few more serious. A discussion of concrete community swimming pools leads to an interview with a city employee who reveals the process used to clean the water if someone with diarrhea has an accident while swimming. When told having a notable musician in the movie might help attract investors, he follows around a local rocker – one who moonlights at a liquor store – and makes a shocking discovery about the guy’s relationship. (This section touches on grief.) Wilson repeatedly comes back to a confounding annual foot race in Queens, where participants spend 52 days running 3,100 miles around the same block, supposedly to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Of course, they’re running on concrete.

Peppered in throughout are random snippets of bizarre or kooky sights Wilson stumbles across. Cumulatively, all these varied elements create non-stop hilarity. The History of Concrete is one of the year’s funniest films. One of the most poignant, too. Like the ostensible subject, these quirks surround us in life, but we probably ignore them. Wilson’s message is that, when you look at mundane things closer, you might find they’re quite fascinating.

That message makes the picture unexpectedly life-affirming. The History of Concrete gets you laughing hard, yet when it’s over, you come away feeling more optimistic about human existence. Cracks and crumbles are unavoidable. Buildings occasionally fall. Sidewalks can be uneven, causing you to trip. Even so, the world is packed full with stuff to make you smile, think, and feel. This unconventional, immensely entertaining documentary is a balm during our troubled times.