|
Maxed Out
Directed by: James D. Scurlock Starring: Beth Naef Genre: Documentary Run Time: 89 min. Release Date: March 2007 On The Web: Unofficial Site Teaser: No Trailer Available Reviewed by Byron Merritt |
I can think of no better day than today to review this excellent documentary. You see, today is the day after Thanksgiving 2008; what many call "Black Friday." It is the day many of us sink further into debt buying crap our friends and family probably don’t need nor want. Couple that with a destabilizing economy and you’ve got serious issues to think about. The question we need to ask ourselves is "why?" Why do we feel the need to spend more than we make (or may ever make)? The tough answer is here in MAXED OUT, writer/director James D. Scurlock’s first feature length documentary. I think many of us know the answer but simply refuse to acknowledge it: we want to keep up with the Jones’. They have a new car, we need a new car. They have a new washer/dryer, we need a new one. It is a cycle being perpetuated by the credit industry and we, the consumers, have been drawn to it like moths to a flamethrower. Maxed Out gives us insights that should make one angry and fearful. Predatory lenders like MBNA, Capitol One, and other credit card companies target those that are least likely to be able to afford credit. Why? Because these are the people who max out their cards then pay the minimum monthly amounts until ...either bankrupt or death do them part. It’s a marriage made in Hell and it continues to this day. College students who enter a new campus are likely to find tables set up near their dorms offering sign ups for new credit cards. Why? Again, because they can’t afford it (sadly these are the people who end up in the worst situations, often dangling from their necks in dorm room closets). Add to this fact that we are now in the worst financial/debt crisis in U.S. history (end of 2008) and is there any wonder why? George Bush and his buddies at MBNA passed a new law that puts tighter restrictions on filing for bankruptcy, making those who really need assistance the least likely to get it (but it’s okay to spend 700 billion taxpayer dollars to bail out banks that caused this debacle). Heinous. And do the credit card companies have to answer to anyone? Morally or ethically? Not that I’ve seen. This is a documentary well worth your while. And at a quick 89 minutes, it won’t eat up a lot of your precious time ...like those credit card bills will.
|
Image from Maxed Out
DVD cost: $13.29 Purchase: Tower.com Film Review Stew Favorite? Yes. Stew Poo-Poo? No. Newsworthy: To help pay for the production of the film/documentary, director-writer James Scurlock used not one single credit card ... but he did sell a successful restaurant chain he'd built up during college at the University of Pennsylvania. Movie Quote: "Credit card companies want the poor and destitute to max out their cards and then pay the minimum payment until the day they die."
Other Actors/Actresses from Maxed Out
|
|
Images from Maxed Out
|
