Documentaries about rock-n-roll bands have never had to break any stylistic ground in order to be compelling. Hell, the stories barely even deviate from one another, usually chronicling tales of music-loving kids who chase their dreams, only to be jarred awake by the realities that ensue when your passion becomes your job. To that end, there's nothing terribly special about director Barr Weissman's "The Secret To A Happy Ending," except its subject, alt-country's rowdy, resolute Drive-By Truckers.

We primarily hear from founding members and longtime friends Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, who take us through the band's timeline, from its noisy Alabama beginnings to its current road-warrior status. There are pauses along the way, of course, both to enjoy the little successes as well as address the clashes that inevitably occur within an artistic democracy. Mostly, though, we get to enjoy uninterrupted stretches of live, transcendent rock, accompanied by thoughtful insight from brilliant songwriters perpetually grappling with what Hood calls "the duality of the Southern thing." Shot over the course of a couple years beginning in 2005, "Happy Ending" is clearly made by a fan, for fans. Luckily, if you weren't a DBT fan at the beginning of the film, when the lights come up you will be.