Top
film
Stories
Film
Uwe Boll, Worst Director Alive, to Wall Street Execs: "Don't Think You're Safe"
By Nick Schager
777 Glades Road
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Category: Movie Theaters
Region: Boca Raton
|
0 user reviews
|
Write A Review |
|
|
This riff on Margaret Atwood's 2008 book-length essay, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth, avoids the traps of recent social-problem documentaries. But if there's value in Payback's all-encompassing point of view, it's a weakness as well. Screenwriter-director Jennifer Baichwal pegs Atwood's thesis that debt is as philosophical of a condition as it is a fiscal one and that its contemporary context is overbearingly punitive. The thesis is shown with case studies like a Canadian career criminal "paying his debt to society" in prison and an Albanian family whose ugly feud with another clan boils indebtedness down to its sticky essence. Other parties weigh in, including econo-activist Raj Patel and disgraced mogul Conrad Black, who, of all people, speaks movingly about incarceration. Atwood appears, of course, to read passages from her book in characteristic deadpan. But drawing on so many sources leaves Payback feeling truncated and even dilettantish. Cinematic globe-trotting doesn't necessarily trump reading a good book; then again, more movies should be burdened with the flaw of being too intellectually curious.
Join My Voice Nation for free stuff, film info & more!
Find everything you're looking for in your city
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
