Maineland

A sweetly observed if not especially incisive documentary.

A documentary that offers some fascinating if glancing insights into a rich and timely subject but ends up being more frustrating than enlightening.

What's memorable here is the students' talk of their families' economic anxieties, of their hopes to make enough money while young that their own children will feel financially secure, of the ways that American and Chinese life diverge.

Maineland is, however, very much worth seeing because it does give us a portrait of two teens who share more with their American counterparts than they or we imagine.