Gringo Trails

[Pegi Vail's] documentary about the effects of global tourism... should be mandatory viewing for anyone who's ever thumbed through a Lonely Planet guidebook with an eye toward visiting an exotic destination.

This well-meaning but superficial film skips across the globe, raising some provocative arguments but advancing few.

Vail's film earnestly interrogates authenticity even as her camera lingers on a beach without footprints, inviting the viewer to walk.

Despite the trend toward what one clever subject calls backpackaging, the cleverly edited and beautifully shot film ends on a hopeful note with the emergence of sustainable models in places like Bhutan.