Talk to a few astute internetters and you're bound to find some folks who are more than a little familiar with a website called Craigslist.org. Imagine the classified ads section of your local newspaper, only multiplied by about a thousand, and then tack on a community message board and a few computer-friendly little gizmos, and you're close to enjoying the Craigslist experience. Basically, if you're looking for something, be it a used car, a new job, a booty-call partner, an office intern, some old Star Wars action figures, or just someone to chat with - odds are you can find it on Craigslist.

Since Craigslist represents one of the biggest and most admirable success stories of the Internet age, it's not at all surprising to learn that someone decided to make a documentary about the phenomenon. But instead of delivering a simple "how'd it all happen" sort of story, filmmaker Michael Gibson came up with a clever concept: Eight camera crews would all head out on the same day, scouring San Francisco to visit with some of Craigslist's most recent participants. Needless to say, they make for a pretty eclectic bunch.

In an attempt to show how broad the List's reach is, Gibson's crew decided to focus more on the human interest stories, and just a bit less on stories like "Yep, I got this secretarial job thanks to Craigslist. Yeah." So don't be too surprised when you're met by gay porn stars, Ethel Merman cross-dressers, guys with eyeglass fetishes, and other assorted kooks. But one particularly cool thing that Gibson is able to get across is this: That Ethel Merman cross-dresser is a perfectly nice guy, and he's happy to have found a website that enables him to pursue his particular activities.

If Gibson's goal was to illustrate how handy and dandy the Craigslist experience can be, he's done a fine job. Sorry to say, however, that by sticking so closely to the 'generally interesting yet never quite fascinating' parade of Craigusers, the flick manages to run out of steam - even at its relatively brief 80-minute running time. It might have been more interesting with a few less "user visits" and perhaps a bit more history on the website itself; also missing is any sort of contrary opinion. As cool as Craigslist is, and we have a very excellent one here in Philadelphia, I'd be willing to wager that some folks have had problems with the service. But to Gibson's credit, his doco never comes off like a downright infomercial, even if he does beat the company drum quite consistently.

Hats off to Heretic Films for delivering 24 Hours on Craigslist in a seriously excellent DVD package. Aside from the main feature (widescreen, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo), the 2-disc set comes overstuffed with four featurettes, a feature-length director's audio commentary, and something like 3+ hours of deleted scenes, excised interviews, and unusable outtakes. The flick itself gets a B-, but the DVD is grade-A impressive all the way.