Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Michael_Elliott Maxed Out (2006) ** (out of 4) Sometimes interested but way too one-sided documentary about the evils of banks, credit lenders and pretty much anyone or thing that is rich. The documentary features interviews with people who have lost their homes and other items as well as people who try to explain what the banks are up and why they need poor people to continue to make money. The biggest reasons for this is that people who are late each month have to then pay high late fees and bigger interest fees. The film makes the argument that without all of these additional fees the people at the top wouldn't be bringing in as much money. The other example is credit card companies stalking colleges looking for newly fresh 18-year-olds needing quick money. MAXED OUT tackles an interested subject matter and I personally don't have a problem with them trying to show that banks are evil. I've been on both sides of the coin of being in trouble financially and also working for a bank so I understand how things work. With that said, not once does the documentary ever blame people who borrow stuff that they can't pay back. I mean, if someone makes $2000 a month and get a loan at $3000 a month then of course it's going to lead to trouble. This documentary, even with that example, would have you believe it's the bank's fault and I think this one-sided nature is what really killed the film. There are some sad stories told, some dramatic ones but at the same time there are way too many examples of where people are to blame for what they're going through and not once does the documentary simply ask them what they were thinking. Yes, the financial institute is full of crooked people. Yes it's good that people be warned about them. However, people still need to take control of what they do and this documentary simply ignores that. For the majority of the 87-minutes, the documentary simply looks at the bad things or the questionable things that people do. It also shines a light on certain "credit experts" and mentions how they're usually connected to certain things that speak as being good.

miles_atwater Picking on our government and certain corporations with regards to debt and credit policy is like shooting fish in a barrel. So, the movie stuck to the easy stuff (credit card companies are bad and the government is ignoring the problem - both may be true) and the emotional stuff (people with sever psych problems or depression brought on by their spending habits who take their own lives) and skipped over what would have been a really good investigation.I'd like to know how people get into debt and what the process is. This movie completely ignored the "consumer" on focused on everyone else involved - and the blame was on the companies and the government. I'm not saying that those two aren't to blame at all, but there is a person who is spending and they should be held accountable.Finally, I would have liked to see more about the "typical American" with almost $10k of credit card debt. Find those "normal" people (not the extremes, which is what we were shown) and talk about their problems and why they get into debt in the first place.This movie missed so many opportunities and told so many half stories, that I was frustrated at at the end.

PrimeCipher This movie is certainly propaganda, however it contains important thought-provoking information and therefore I recommend it. If you have a mind of your own and are capable of differentiating truth from partial truth from fiction you should watch this movie. The message you take from it may not be what the producers wanted but that's OK. We can use them as they're attempting (quite successfully from the looks of these comments) to use us. If anything good comes out of this movie it will be a close look at debt on every level - from individual to global - and if only a few people research and understand the most basic principles of economics as a result, well then the world is a better place.

lastliberal You cannot pick up the paper these days without seeing another story of how the middle class is disappearing. Soon, we will fit in two categories - "rich" and "barely making it." One of the big problems has been the ease with with credit is given and the hole people fall into when they take advantage of easy credit.This film shows that the credit companies actually want those who are just getting by to use their cards because they make a killing on late fees and higher interest. They don't want to prevent bankruptcies, because they can get you hooked again as soon as you file. The predatory practices of the mortgage lenders is also displayed.What was not a surprise was the revelation that a member of the current administration was an executive in a credit card company that was fined huge amounts for stealing from customers, and the fact that the largest campaign contributor in the 2004 election was the banking institution that coincidentally co-authored a bill that made it harder for middle-class Americans to file for bankruptcy.If you use credit, and we all do, then you really need to see this.