Brace yourself for a shock. This film opens with a startling, some might say, truly unbelievable revelation about estate agents. Apparently and some will find this impossible to believe some estate agents occasionally act in their own interests, sometimes even prioritising this over the needs of their clients. I know! I didnt believe it either.
But I shouldnt mock. This documentary is based on Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubners book Freakonomics, which despite not actually living up to its name it is not especially freakish and has more to do with sociology than economics is actually a darn good read.
The film version is divided into sections, each filmed by different directors, so perhaps its unsurprising that the end result is a bit of a mixed bag, even if they are a talented bunch, including Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), Alex Gibney (Smartest Guys In The Room) and Seth Gordon (King Of Kong). The first, which examines the significance of Christian names in determining peoples destinies, is just as fascinating as in the book. As with the book, its a bit of a shame there is no British equivalent as few of the names in the US examples (such as Tyrone or Todd) really travel well for a British audience. Yet the bizarre real life examples such as the story of the girl whose semi-literate mother named her Temptress, without realising what the word actually meant, or the respective fates of the two boys whose father named them respectively Winner and Loser (yes, really) remain interesting. Although, if youve read the book, you will obviously have already heard them.
The rest of the film is duller. Perhaps the most controversial theory in the book was that the dramatic fall in the US crime rate in the 1990s was directly attributable to the legalisation of abortion in the mid-1970s. Its not a very nice theory, true, but it was certainly a well argued one, at least in the book. Here, the whole section is hampered by a ludicrously inept attempt to link the content with clips from Frank Capras 1940s Christmas classic Its A Wonderful Life. Another chapter on possible cheating in Japanese sumo wrestling is merely deadly dull.
The final section, which investigates whether childrens academic results can be improved by bribing them, at least has an intriguing premise. But even this (which wasnt in the book) is undermined by a feeling that the way the experiment is conducted is flawed. Can cash incentives really lead to higher grades? Its a good question. Unfortunately, the film doesnt really answer it.
Ultimately, this is a flawed effort, not helped by having both a producers and a directors audio commentary on the DVD when really as a documentary it doesnt really need any commentaries at all. Even worse, each segment of the film is linked by the books authors, Levitt and Dubner, who revelling in the books massive success, and now come across as the smuggest gits on Earth.
Overall Verdict: Instantly pointless if youve already read the compelling book and with clumsy animated sequences and a number of very dull sequences, it really doesnt work as a film.
Special Features:
Audio Commentary with Producers Chris Romano, Dan OMeara and Chad Troutwine
Audio Commentary with Directors Seth Gordon, Morgan Spurlock, Writer Jeremy Chilnick, Alex Gibney, Eugene Jarecki, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
Additional Interviews with Authors Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner
Reviewer: Chris Hallam