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Inside Job (2010)

Director: Charles Ferguson

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3 reviews

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From Time Out London

You’ll need a clear head to follow this impressive and angry American doc about the financial meltdown, as it races through late-twentieth-century American economic policy in an effort to pinpoint the roots of the recent crisis – which director Charles Ferguson attributes to an unholy alliance between politics, academia and big business.

Ferguson is an academic and IT entrepreneur in his fifties who only turned to filmmaking in the past decade. His film about the Iraq war, ‘No End In Sight’, was his first, and for this new hot potato he draws on a roll-call of 42 interviewees, from George Soros to a prostitute who often served high-rolling investment bankers. That’s a lot of boardrooms, bookcases and views over the Hudson, but Ferguson tempers these scenes with slick photography, some of it exterior, aerial shots of Manhattan or rural Iceland.

You’ll need these interludes to counter the rush of facts and figures. Ferguson take us from deregulation in Wall Street in the 1980s and ’90s to a series of later calamities that the government failed to act on, from the 2001 dot-com crash to the collapse of Bear Stearns. He argues that the government ignored the warnings of academics, many of whose peers were pro-deregulation and rewarded by other jobs. He laments, too, that Obama is still surrounded by the same advisers, such as Timothy Geithner, who shepherded Bush through the mess of 2008.

Ferguson’s style is to let his interviewees do the talking, with a sober voiceover from Matt Damon, but there’s a touch of Michael Moore in later scenes, when he insists on pinning down Glenn Hubbard, an economic adviser under Bush and Dean of the Columbia University Business School, on the cosy relationship between academia and government. ‘You have three more minutes,’ growls a man not used to being taken to task. ‘Give it your best shot.’

Author: Dave Calhoun

Time Out London Issue 2113: 17 - 23 Feburary, 2011

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Tarik Bahadir Kirtay said...

Posted on Mar 28 2011 00:27 It's about the economic crisis how (why) has happened in America , Iceland in 2008 and spread all over the world. I think it is the best documentary ever made about the crisis. The documentary gives clear information how the big firms buy the politicians ( academics ) and get the regulations changed according to their needs in order to get rid of the legal control. It's interesting that the creators ( masters ) of the crisis didn't get any important charges and nothing happened to their wealth. It's sad that most of them employed again at high government positions by president Obama. In addition the comments by George Soros is very interesting. I highly recommend that it must be seen by the ones who interested in economy and politics.

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Ian Pollock said...

Posted on Feb 22 2011 17:32 Just watched "Inside Job" There'll be hell to pay if the jobless and homeless in USA get to see it....manage to stay awake through it all and even half understand it.
The Days of Rage on their own doorstep and street protests as the gap between the haves and have nots increases.
US Govt. currently preaching restraint to foreign countries during the current rampant Middle Eastern / N. Africa protests.
I wonder how much blood will be spilled on American streets in the upcoming years.
I see a future of heavily fortified gated communities with armed guards in security towers.......they may have to forego their shopping for jewellry and have their food delivered in armoured vans

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Mike said...

Posted on Feb 19 2011 00:08 As Dave Calhoun implies, this is an excellent movie - it fully explains how increasing deregulation allowed the banking industry to take greater, and greater risks. In particular I thought the interviewing techniques and awkward questions were superb. Frederick S Mishkin, Alan Greenspan, Hank Paulson, and Moody's come out of this documentary movie looking particularly bad. I was particularly impressed with the manner in which financial instruments were explained, and how their trading was illustrated - particularly when it came to the near collapse of AIG. Really impressive. Lots of gasps from the rest of the audience who also clearly understood the risks and implications.
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If you didn't like bankers before, you certainly won't after this movie. One thing's for sure, unless there is tight regulation of the banking industry, it'll happen all over again - a message that comes over loud and clear in this film. The winners from this movie are clearly bed manufacturers, as you'll be left in no doubt that the safest place for your money is under the mattress. Definitely a 4 star movie.

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