A generally agreeable but perhaps hopelessly meandering documentary snapshot of one young guy’s attempt to hit the road for 31 days and live off the alms of America’s new, digital age thrift store, Craigslist Joe isn’t the first nonfiction film to throw a light on the namesake popular classified advertising website, but it is the first to arrive with the imprimatur of executive producer Zach Galifianakis.

Departing Los Angeles with only $200, his laptop and bookbag, a cellphone, tooth brush and the clothes on his back (oh, and a cameraman, whom he of course met on Craigslist), Garner relies on listings — both his own, and those already on the site — for food, shelter and transportation. Via a couple ride-shares, he heads north, to Portland and Seattle, and then finally east, along the way trolling Craigslisted free events (charity gatherings, open-mic nights, breakdancing classes, Hanukkah celebrations) where he can mingle, grab a bit of warmth and try to find a place to crash for the evening.

Garner — who hatched the idea for his feature film debut while serving as an assistant to Todd Phillips on The Hangover — is a pleasant and engaging enough guide for this trip. And as a travelogue litmus test of human kindness, Craigslist Joe is satisfying entertainment, on a surface level. It warms the heart a bit, and certainly proves to be an emotional and enlightening experience for Garner. So watching him achieve some emotional fulfillment and growth emits small pulses of positive energy. But even on just a personal/psychological level the movie lacks a strong enough thesis, definition and stakes, and could benefit enormously from more direct-address confessionals. It doesn’t necessarily need the personality infusion of a chattering Morgan Spurlock, but Craigslist Joe does cry out for more of a sense of Garner’s state of mind during his actual travels.

Craigslist Joe isn’t bad, and will in fact prove quite enjoyable to those utterly bewitched by its mere conceit. But in terms of pure slice-of-life quirkiness, melancholy and Americana, Austin Lynch (David Lynch’s son) and his friends achieved more with Interview Project, a striking series of three-minute shorts they produced traveling across the country. With Garner’s film, one can’t help but feel that it’s also a case of a concept not quite completely cracked — a tech-age experiment entered into with more feeling than thought. For more information on the movie, visit its website. For the full, original review, meanwhile, click here to visit ShockYa. (CLJ Films, unrated, 90 minutes)