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Movies & TV

Money docs cash in

We can say one good thing about the global financial meltdown: it kept a lot of documentary filmmakers gainfully employed trying to explain it. Here are four projects that, taken together, paint a comprehensive picture of the greed, amorality and chaos that nearly bankrupted the world in 2008. (You can also throw in Collapse, The Yes Men Fix The World and I.O.U.S.A., but only if you aren’t depressed enough already.)

> CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY

Michael Moore’s 2009 look at the parasitic relationship between America’s financial sector and government is more a screed than a discussion. Moore’s so focused on scoring emotional points that he fails to provide the necessary structure to get us on his side. But as a snapshot of a nation teetering on the edge of disaster – Moore went into production just as the first wave of the crisis rolled through the markets – it’s worth a look.

> CASINO JACK AND THE UNITED STATES OF MONEY

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Alex Gibney, who sounded warning bells about the potential for economic disaster with 2003’s Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room, traces the roots of the crisis to Republican horse trader Jack Abramoff, who laid the groundwork for rampant corruption with years of influence peddling. (Kevin Spacey plays Abramoff in the fictionalized Casino Jack, opening later this month.)

> INSIDE JOB

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Having made sense of the blinkered U.S. invasion of Iraq in No End In Sight, Charles Ferguson unpacks the root causes of the U.S. financial crisis in a simple, straightforward and utterly infuriating doc. If you only see one of these movies, see this one. It packs the most information into the smallest space, and Matt Damon’s calm narration will keep you from setting the cinema on fire.

> CLIENT 9: THE RISE AND FALL OF ELIOT SPITZER

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The economic crisis isn’t the focus of Alex Gibney’s other 2010 documentary, but it’s an essential element of the story, since it seems likely that the scandal over Spitzer’s hypocritical dalliances with escorts was triggered by Wall Street power brokers fearful he was about to expose their billion-dollar Ponzi schemes.

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