"Maxed Out" Directed by James Scurlock Not Rated Opening Friday Grade: A-
In a world filled with credit cards and bonus offers, getting into debt is not a difficult proposition. Getting out is a completely different story. Telling that story is "Maxed Out," a documentary by James Scurlock. The film takes audiences across America both physically and financially, showing the rich, poor, well-off and destitute. An eye-opener of incredible power, "Maxed Out" is a film for all, especially college students. "Maxed Out" is an in-depth exploration of money problems in the United States that reveals just how easy it is to get into debt. Viewers see the unsavory side of credit card companies and realize just how high the odds are stacked against those who use them. Viewers see men and women, young and old, black and white who have managed to sink so far into debt they can never remember not owing money. The desperate are explored, as well as what that desperation makes them do. For many of these people, they are pushed so far that death appears to be the only way out. The film shows that those who cannot pay that are the chief targets of the credit card companies. Without pulling punches the documentary shows that credit companies make their money off of those who make minimum payments for the rest of their lives. To bring the message to viewers, the film includes interviews with debtors, debt collectors, experts, government officials and of course the credit card companies themselves. The movie takes viewers into Congress, exploring what our elected officials have had to do with the problems and solutions to financial problems in this country. We see the financial problems of not just the private citizen but of the federal government itself. "Maxed Out" explores the depths to which the U.S. economic system is sinking with billions of dollars in debt piling on. "Maxed Out" even explores how the tragedy of New Orleans has given rise to monstrous amounts of money owed to debt collectors on a national scale. The players involved are not simply the leaders of the United States. "Maxed Out" is a savage indictment of the entire financial institution of the United States, not just the government or the credit card companies but every aspect of a system leading millions of Americans into an endless cycle of bills and debt collectors. The greed of the private sector and complacency of the government are laid bare in a film that takes no prisoners. "Maxed Out" takes no prisoners as well. One walks away from the film with a new perspective on their finances and a heavy heart burdened with an important warning. The message is clear: Watch out for the credit card companies because you can be sure they'll be watching you.
