Do you want to feel angry? Do you want to feel upset and sick to your stomach and generally frustrated with the United States government and the banks it is currently protecting? Well, Inside Job might be the film for you. Inside Job won Best Feature-Length Documentary this year, and while I adored the heavily favored Exit Through the Gift Shop, I am glad that the Academy chose at least one culturally-relevant film to honor and highlight in 2011. (I am looking at you, The King's Speech. I am onto you, British period pieces.) Inside Job is a cautionary tale that is retold only a few years after it happened, and if Americans watch it now and understand its message, we can do something. I hope that people watch Inside Job now, not later, and they get fired up because we need to call corporate greed what it is: unacceptable.
Inside Job is a documentary that explains why the banks needed to be bailed out. Not only that, the filmmakers lay out in simple terms why so many people are losing their homes and livelihoods, and more importantly, they show why the people responsible walked away with little more than a slap on the wrist. Director Charles Ferguson somehow managed to get interviews with economists, world leaders, and one bank lobbyist who spends most of his time desperately trying to justify his boss' actions.
For those who have not been following the news, the United States government has been moving more and more towards deregulation, be it under a Republican or Democratic president. The banking industry worked for decades to get people working in the White House who would look out for the bank's best interests. With less regulation, bankers gave loans to high-risk lenders and made high-risk investments with their customer's money. When their risks failed to pan out, everyone lost except for the people responsible. The people responsible walked away with giant payouts and, in some cases, high government positions.
One nice thing about Inside Job is how they utilize Matt Damon's voice over narration. Many politically-driven filmmakers like Michael Moore tend to interject their opinion via voice-over throughout. I don't always mind it when the director chooses to take that route, but I prefer to let the facts speak for themselves. In the case of Inside Job, the filmmakers don't have to tell the audience that there is inequality between the lower and middle class. All they have to do is point to the Wall Street bonuses and show the vacant foreclosed homes.
One of the most frustrating parts of Inside Job is knowing that we are now living in the aftermath of this disaster, and there was very little that the average American could do to stop it. Worse, it could happen again. The people who could stop history from repeating itself are not doing so. Instead, politicians like Scott Walker are telling the lower and middle class to make sacrifices while refusing to increase taxes for the wealthiest Americans. In the film, director Charles Ferguson asked the bank lobbyist if he believed the Wall Street bonuses were fair, and the bank lobbyist tried to argue that bonuses like that are reasonable for their line of work and their positions. Even if that was true, which the film shows it isn't, they should be paid that amount when they do their job, not when they crash our nation's economy.
When documentaries like Inside Job are made, I think that the filmmakers worry about how much of an impact it will make. Will the American people be complacent and wait around for the next catastrophe, or will they watch this film and get riled up? In the wake of Wisconsin, I don't think that Charles Ferguson could have asked for a better time for Inside Job to win the Oscar and get released on DVD. Hopefully audiences will find Inside Job on DVD, and there will be the kind of revolution this film demands.
DVD Bonus Features
Special features include a commentary track with director Charles Ferguson and producer Audrey Marrs, a making-of featurette, and interviews that didn't make it into the film. I enjoyed watching the deleted interviews because I could tell that they did not cut them because they weren't good. Instead, the editor wanted the film to have a sharper focus, and these parts just didn't make the cut. People who want to hear more from Eliot Spitzer, Charles Morris, and Satyajit Das will appreciate that they included these deleted interview on the DVD.
"Inside Job" is on sale March 8, 2011 and is rated PG13. Documentary. Directed by Charles Ferguson. Written by Chad Beck, Adam Bolt. Starring Matt Damon.
