What happens to a neighborhood when the president of the United States moves in next door and offers pep talks to athletes and coaches before the big state football game? A lot, it turns out.

That's the topic of “;Crawford,”; an engaging and surprisingly balanced documentary about the effects of President George W. Bush's establishment of the “;Western White House”; in tiny Crawford, Texas, the epitome of small-town America. But it's also a portrait of the wide variety of residents, young and old, and the many changes they endured from 2000, when Bush purchased his ranch before the election, until 2007.

The 75-minute film begins when then-Gov. Bush speaks at the graduation ceremonies for Crawford High School, and hopeful residents are impressed that he takes time to shake everyone's hand. It seems to lift everyone's spirits.

Before the Bush family arrives, many stores along the main street of Crawford were shuttered. But when he wins the election, everything changes. Press conferences with world leaders are held on the Bush ranch in Crawford, bringing an influx of media and staff into town with a population of just over 600. Sometimes 3,000 to 4,000 people arrive ahead of the president to prepare for his visit. Local students get the opportunity to meet people like Dick Cheney and Tony Blair and begin discussing politics and world issues with greater interest and familiarity. Tourists flock to the now-famous location. Businesses flourish. Land values rise exponentially.

However, some residents in the documentary question the president's selection of Crawford, a destination lacking any hint of glamour. The position offers a lot of prerequisites, one reasoned. If you had choices, wouldn't you rather spend your vacation—in blazing hot August—on Maui? So why there?

  Some of the high school students interviewed for the film surmise that the presidential hopeful's ranch purchase amounted to little more than a public relations move. “;Everybody likes cowboys,”; said one. Another indicates that his association with a small town in middle America might translate to an association with high morals. Some of the old-timers speculate that he cut cedar only when cameras were rolling. Most consider the move to Crawford an effort to further his political career.

Despite the many Bush critics residing in Crawford—including the Lone Star Iconoclast newspaper editor—he had, and continues to have, devoted supporters there. Indeed, when the local newspaper began to criticize the president's policies associated with the Iraq war, the publication lost most of its advertising and half its circulation in a week. It never recovered.

But when vocal Bush critic and peace activist Cindy Sheehan starts camping out in Crawford—attracting thousands of people—it alters the situation even more dramatically. Some residents are thrilled with the passionate debates; others loathe the turmoil. One local cowboy even paints the flanks of his horse with black shoe polish reading “;You don't speak for me,”; then rides it up and down the center of town.

A teen speaks for many when she expresses her frustration with the hordes of people camping out in tents along the route Bush travels to and from his ranch: “;We're so sick of it. Go away. We want to be able to drive on the road again!”;

Strangely, the peace activists disappear just as quickly as they came. “;It was like they got in the car to go to the store or something, and they just never came back,”; says a student.

In 2007, when the Bush presidency begins winding down and his popularity plummets, the effects on Crawford are palpable. Fewer people visit; businesses selling presidential souvenirs close. People go elsewhere to shop. It starts to look like a cinematic ghost town.

Despite a couple of instances when the story seems to lose momentum and delve too deeply into the personal lives of some of the Crawford folks, producer/director David Modigliani for the most part does an amazing job with his portrayal of a classic American town facing its own internal dilemmas amid patriotism, devotion, disagreement, prosperity and loss—all while dealing with the roller-coaster ride that comes when the most powerful person in the world lives down the street.