Recent years have seen the emergence of dot com millionaires, young businessmen lucratively embracing the computer age to bring us websites we never knew we needed.
Chris Hegedus and Jehane Noujaim's documentary follows friends Kaleil and Tom who are trying to turn their own website idea - - paying parking tickets online - - into big bucks. With Tom's technological expertise and Kaleil's charisma, they attract investors keen to bankroll the idea, but find they are in an extremely competitive and volatile marketplace.
Instead of asking constant questions or intruding, Hegedus and Noujaim instead just observe what happens as the website progresses towards its launch. Some sharp editing crisply condenses one year of Kaleil and Tom's lives into under two hours, capturing the fascinating highs and lows, while also focusing on the conflict between work and relationships. Despite its directorial restraint, Startup.com is highly involving and makes for compelling viewing.
