Documentary Review - "Freakonomics: The Movie" (2010)

NDNR 5-Star RatingTM

Director(s):
Heidi Ewing, Alex Gibney, Seth Gordon, Rachel Grady, Eugene Jarecki, Morgan Spurlock

Synopsis:
Based on the William-Morrow published book of the same title, this documentary is a socioeconomic commentary by the authors, University of Chicago economist  Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner.  The book was a non-fiction best seller and the film had a limited theatrical release in the fall of 2010.

To make the documentary, the book was divided into sections and then further divided amongst several directors who used different methods in retelling or explaining Steven Levitt's theories covering traditionally ignored factors on current economic conditions (ie: the effect of your name on your personal success, the effect the ruling in Roe Vs. Wade had on reducing crime in the early 1990's, etc.).  Levitt's proclaimed goal is the search for truth by way of statistical analysis and our need to forego the correlation the world offers and embrace genuine causality.

Rating Summary:

This production benefited from a rather large capital investment for a documentary (more than $3 million) and the resulting production values were high.   The use of animation, actors and clever editing were combined in several different styles by directors, resulting in a mosaic of non-fiction story telling.  It was pieced together in a way that holds interest and is convincing.  The film makers' result was not to create new argument, but to hold to the books conveyance of evaluation and speculation on common socioeconomic anomalies.  Therefore, the perspective remained balanced.   

"Freakonomics" as a documentary was disappointing in that it did not promote further understanding of the explorations already detailed in the book.  The information it provided was based on studies and experiments that weren't fully explained or illustrated, leaving viewers to assume that proper scientific measure was used in the postulation of Levitt's theories.  The documentary proved its creation was simply to satisfy an economic vacuum had it not existed.         

NDNR Recommends:  skip the documentary, read the book.