Movie Review: Maxed Out

Maxed Out
Written and Directed by James D. Scurlock

Two of the biggest problems facing the average American is our fat ass and that we're riddled with debt. Sixty-six percent of us are overweight and according to recent reports the average American owes around nine grand on credit cards. There are thousands of websites and products dedicated to solving those problems and as someone who wrestles with both - credit to a greater degree - they are constant challenges. The main difference between the two is the length at which the credit card companies go to keep you in debt and that's the point of Scurlock's doc.

Credit card companies are evil. I knew that before I put the DVD in my player. They prey on college students, give insane amounts of credit to high risk people who barely have the income to cover life's necessities let alone make a payment on a credit card and are constantly changing their policies to make it more likely you'll do something wrong so they can charge a 40 dollar fee...and crank your interest rate to 29.99%. It's like if you're on a 2000 calorie diet and accidentally eat 2200 calories one day, suddenly Ronald McDonald shows up at your house and makes you eat another 1000 calories to punish you for being a pig. Your ass will never get smaller if this keeps up and it's just as hard for most people to reign in the Mastercard beast.

Watching Maxed Out it's obvious to anyone that the industry is in dire need of regulation -- especially since they bribed the Republican House, Senate and White House to rewrite the bankruptcy law in their favor. I'm even less a fan of crooked politicians than I am of the credit card industry, but there is one thing that's missing from the film: a section about personal responsibility.

Nobody made you eat all those pretzels and nobody made you charge that plasma screen down at Best Buy. We can be our own worst enemy. Sure, the film talks about people who use the credit cards for medical emergencies and are wiped out. But for me and many others, my misdeeds with credit had to do with having to have something right now and not waiting until I saved up the cash. This isn't addressed until some guy named Dave Ramsey gives you some pretty good pointers in the special features. I Googled this guy and it turns out he's some Jesus thumper who has a radio show dedicated to fixing your finances. Thankfully, he didn't bring up the Lord once when he was giving his pointers.

For the most part I enjoyed Maxed Out and would recommend it. You'll think twice about getting some plastic after it's done. Colleges should be required to show it to all incoming students.

Les

Movie Review: Away from Her

Away from Her

Written and Directed by Sarah Polley

Based on a short story by Alice Munro

The sparseness in Sarah Polley’s first feature film, especially in its writing and lingering photography makes it one of the strongest films this year. Maybe because I just read it but this crispness is what made me also love The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Both stories are equally devastating to their participants and the simplicity of McCarthy’s prose and Polley’s portrayal of a man dealing with the loss of his wife to Alzheimer’s is what makes them even more powerful. In a lesser director’s hands this could have easily turned into a Lifetime movie.

The film starts with Fiona and Grant happily retired someplace in Canada. Fiona’s memory is gradually failing her, more of a nuisance at first (forgetting where to put the knives or how to pronounce the word “wine”) until one day she goes cross country skiing and doesn’t come home. Grant finds her hours later standing in the cold and looking at a river. At least a hundred American tourists cross the border to do this each year but if you already live there and also can’t remember the color yellow until you look at it, this is a problem.

Before she’s too far gone Fiona decides that she wants to go to a retirement home, probably because she knows that her husband would not be able to make the decision when the time came. This is one of the strongest parts of the film and makes it so heartbreaking for Grant. If she is this lucid, why can’t he keep her with him – at least for a while longer?

After she enters the retirement home Grant becomes “that friendly guy who visits everyday” instead of her husband of 44 years. It’s heartbreaking and only gets worse when Fiona falls for another resident under Grant’s watchful eye. It becomes a kind of purgatory for Grant’s marital sins.

The film treats its audience like it has a brain. Polley never beats us over the head with Grant’s transgressions from the past. They are mentioned but are never really discussed and linger in the pain on Grant’s face or the occasional bitterness betrayed in Fiona’s eyes. These feelings aren’t allowed closure and only add to the pain and guilt of the situation
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Away from Her is one of the year’s best and I’m sure Polley will be nominated for Adapted Screenplay and possibly Best Director Oscars.

I look forward to Sarah Polley’s next effort.

Les