Reconnecting on “A Road Trip to Remember”

Seeing a cognitive decline in anyone I love would drive me to help — in any way I could. Chris Hemsworth's does just that in the new documentary "A Road Trip to Remember." In it, he wants to help mitigate the effects of early-onset Alzheimer's in his father, Craig.

Going on a journey through Hemsworth's humble beginnings will let anyone relate. In fact, it made me wish I had a similar childhood. Simple, outside, nothing more.

Through the documentary, we're taken down memory lane into the Hemsworth family's past. His father, Craig, seemed like a real-life superhero. In Chris's retelling of some childhood stories, you can tell he really looked up to his father. I can see where Chris may have found inspiration for his "Thor."

The path down their history is actually steeped in science. The documentary explains how certain actions have had a significant effect on those with Alzheimer's. The idea is to stave off the disease by making more connections in the brain, by reliving the past and reconnecting with old friends. They do just that in surprising and touching ways throughout.

Whether you still have a parent in your life or are a parent yourself, you'll feel the emotion in this show. I found myself welling up way more often than I expected.

Coupled with the down-to-earth environment the Hemsworth family grew up in, I found myself thinking I need to spend more time with family and reconnect with the planet. I think were all on screens far too much these days. I know I am.

It's the look of the documentary that really delivers the one-two punch. It's visceral, almost timeless. Very different from all the documentaries I've seen recently. Wanting to know how they did that with the series, I spoke with the director of photography, Jim Jolliffe.

Straight out, I asked how he made it look so good.

Jolliffe said the look was intentional by adapting vintage lenses to their modern cameras. He used Sony VENICE 2 and DJI RONIN 4D cameras, shooting 8k, and made adapters for the various old lenses. It's kind of poetic, capturing the present on the latest technology, literally through the lens of the past. Very fitting for the subject, indeed.

However, these cameras weren't used for the drone shots. They're way too heavy. On those aerial shots, he used a DJI Inspire 3 with a built-in 8K camera.

This platform could not take his vintage lenses, but he was still able to make it look fitting with the rest of the doc using a little innovation. He rubbed dirt from the area into the drone camera lens, not directly of course, but on a filter over it. That particular dirt delivered a graininess and color hue that was just about a perfect match.

Speaking of the drone, when you see Chris and his father riding motorcycles down those outback dirt paths, you just might feel an overwhelming desire to hit the road like me. I've been looking around the area where I live for trails, no joke. Zero dusty trails, unfortunately.

I highly recommend watching "A Road Trip to Remember." It will be drop November 23 on Disney+.

It's an hour well spent. It's inspirational. It's touching. It helps raise awareness and support for Alzheimer's research. You just might want to take road trip with family after watching.

If you do, come back here and share your story in the comments. I'll do the same.