Inside Job – A Sony Pictures Classics’ Release

http://www.sonyclassics.com/insidejob/

DVD Release Date: March 1st, 2010

Rated PG for coarse language and mature themes

Running time: 108 minutes

 

Charles Ferguson (dir.)

 

Chad Beck (writer)

Adam Bolt (writer)

 

Alex Heffes (music)

 

Narrated by Matt Damon

 

Our reviews below:

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Inside Job DVD Review By John C.

*** (out of 4)

The 2008 economic meltdown cost millions of people their jobs and homes, and makes for a timely subject in Charles Ferguson’s Inside Job.  Having just won the Oscar for Best Documentary, the film uses interviews with notable financial insiders to reveal the disturbing truth about just how much of the recession was caused by corporate fraud and personal greed on behalf of the bankers.

 

Narrated by Matt Damon, Inside Job is undeniably effective as a fascinating and expertly done exposé on the 2008 financial crisis and economic meltdown.  But casual viewers will find the amount of information shared to be exhausting, and I also can’t say that it engaged me emotionally the same way that it did intellectually.  Still, if you pay close attention, the film offers plenty to think about and is worth your time on DVD – especially if you are interested in economics.

 

The Blu-ray includes over 60 minutes of deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, and commentary with director Ferguson and producer Audrey Marrs.

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Inside Job DVD Review By Erin V.

*** (out of 4)

On the one hand, it is easy to see why Inside Job won Best Documentary at the Oscars this year.  It is about a timely issue, and its facts are presented well.  But its downfall with the majority of filmgoers is going to be that it is all facts.  Unless you are into economics, a lot of the deeper details will become overwhelming.  But despite not retaining absolutely everything, I found that by paying close attention, the gist of the story can be well understood.

 

On the technical side though, this is a very well-made doc.  It easy to see that it has high-production values with crystal clear, well framed shots – including a lot of aerial footage.  It is a nice film to watch, particularly the opening in Iceland.  The editing between interviews for the film and court footage, as well as spliced-in economic graphs to illustrate parts of Matt Damon’s narration all work well.  According to Box Office Mojo the film had a budget of $2 million.  It is long at 108 minutes, but for those interested in the economic meltdown of a few years back and how it came about, I don’t think you’ll find a better made explanation of it.  Inside Job is a worthwhile and eye-opening film to see.

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Inside Job DVD Review By Nicole

*** (out of 4)

Inside Job, the Best Documentary winner at this year’s Oscars, uncovers the truth behind the recession of 2008.  The economic crisis was no accident.  It was the fault of shady and greedy bankers, who “borrowed” money from citizens, often for their own pleasure.  The documentary also shows how the bankers befriended politicians and got them to remove laws restricting what could be done with people’s money, as well as how they influenced colleges and universities.

 

Inside Job is a must see for bankers and accountants, as well as high school and university students studying the economic system.  But for the average person, it provides too much information without breaking things down into simpler terms.  I would have like to have seen more of the human side of the recession, showing us the people directly hit by the downfall.  However if you are interested in economics and corporate ethics, then watch Inside Job.

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Inside Job DVD Review By Maureen

*** (out of 4)

Inside Job is a fascinating journalistic exposé about the devastating financial crisis that came to a head in 2008.  Oscar-winning writer and director Charles Ferguson relentlessly pursues American economic leaders and heads of financial institutions challenging them to defend why they would knowingly allow the banking industry to create a nation of overmortgaged and debt-burdened people.

 

Narrated by actor Matt Damon, the film starts in Iceland.  Various financial experts discuss how the once stable economy collapsed after the de-regulation of Iceland’s banks.  Inside Job then focuses on the United States.  Ferguson interviews numerous financial experts and it’s obvious he’s determined to get at the truth about the role the major banks played in the crisis.  What’s more telling are the individuals who refused to be interviewed.

 

As fascinating as the whole subject is, many people will find Inside Job too cut and dry for a Saturday night rental.  But the documentary is well researched, filmed and edited and deserving of its recent Best Documentary Oscar.  Casual viewers will have to be motivated to sit through 108 minutes of economic jargon, but anyone interested in economics will want to see Inside Job.  The Blu-ray comes with a link to an online study guide that students might want to access.

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Inside Job DVD Review By Tony

**** (out of 4)

Inside Job exposes the people and institutions that led to the 2008 financial meltdown. In a prologue, we see the collateral damage in Iceland where recent deregulation left its 320 000 people exposed to a debt of 100 billion dollars. It then follows the dismantling of regulations on the financial industry (brought in during the 1930s to prevent the excesses leading to the 1929 crash) that began with Reagan and continued through the Clinton and especially George W. Bush administrations. A good analogy is made between the risk of consolidating numerous banks and insurance firms into several super institutions with the removal of separate compartments in a supertanker. Computer technology led to derivatives more unstable than the margins of the 1920s. High risk consumer loans and mortgages were mixed in with safer investments and sold as highly rated securities to third-party investors. Large insurance companies covering losses at both ends were worst hit when everything collapsed. Payouts in the hundreds of millions of dollars bought huge estates, yachts and other trappings, while smaller vices like drugs and prostitutes were written off in expense accounts. Perhaps most troubling is the fact that the people shown most culpable are still at the top, both in the current Obama administration and in the faculties of the most prestigious business schools. As the film maker Charles Ferguson pointed out in his Academy Award acceptance speech, none of the main culprits has seen jail time. The only important person punished for personal vices was Client 9 Eliot Spitzer, interviewed here among a handful of academics and writers who had tried to warn against the coming fall.

 

The exhaustive research and organization of material for Inside Job are admirable. However, as a reasonably well-informed, sympathetic and wide-awake viewer, I still found it challenging to keep up with the relentless flood of information presented, so I fear its message will be lost on the vast majority of the public that need to hear it. Like many deserving but unsuccessful politicians, it focuses too much on the macroeconomics of billions and trillions of dollars and not enough on the microeconomic impact on ordinary people. The Iceland story provides a perfect example of a missed opportunity by failing to point out the per capita liability of Icelanders of over $300 000 (found by dividing the first two figures cited above). At least we in Canada can be thankful for hanging on to the regulations that sheltered us from much of the damage.

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Consensus: Charles Ferguson’s Oscar-winning documentary Inside Job is an expertly done exposé on the 2008 financial crisis.  Although it might not appeal to casual viewers, this should be required viewing for anyone interested in economics. ***1/4 (Out of 4)