FREAKONOMICS: THE MOVIE (Tribeca Film Festival Manhattan Borough New York New York USA 2010)

Ben Meyers’ rating: 3.9|5.0 Stars ììì

Freakonomics: The Movie—documentary broken into four segments—endeavors to explore the value of a name, corruption in Sumo wrestling, late 1990s United States crime decline, and value of bribing to induce change in human behavior. The film appears disjointed and fragmented, does not adequately provide alternative viewpoints for argumentation, lacks resolution and emotional appeal, and falls deeply short on why any of this is relevant information. The film lost nearly $2,800,000 in box office. While the two narrators are personable, their combined personality is not enough to pull this film off.

Storyline

Exploration of method to change human behavior, a decade of crime decline, corruption in a sport, and name value.

Additional Thanks

Good Work for Directors Heidi Ewing, Alex Gibney, Seth Gordon, Rachel Grady, Eugene Jarecki, and Morgan Spurlock. Thank you to Executive Producers Paul Fiore, Seth Gordon, Damon Martin, Jay Rifkin, and Michael Roban for making the film possible. Additional characters/cast include: James Ransone, Tempestt Bledsoe (Herself), Morgan Spurlock (Himself (Narrator)), Melvin Van Peebles (Himself (Narrator)), Bill Gates (Himself), Johnny the Mechanic (Greg Crowe), and High School Girl (Lian Amado).

Buy a ticket? Yes? No? Maybe?

Yes. There are serious connective issues with information presentation.

Video Critique available at:

Ben Meyers