Review by Doug Cooper
Stars Jade Viggiano, Kahiry Bess, Zoe Sloane, Sammuel Soifer, Amancaya Aguilar, Adesuwa Addy Iyare,
Alyssa Wheeldon, Kellie Gerardi, Greg Crowe | Written by Seth Gordon, Jeremy Chilnick & Morgan Spurlock
UK certification 12 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 85 minutes | Directed by Heidi Ewing & Alex Gibney
If you're a fan of Steven D Levitt and Stephen J Dubner's bestselling book then you should be delighted with this documentary inspired by it. And if you haven't read their tome you'll still find this a cheerfully engaging effort that posits some thought-provoking ideas.
The two likeable authors are interviewed at length and spout entertaining questions and answers throughout, accompanied at times by some enjoyable animations illustrating their theories. These are interspersed between four separate mini-films helmed by different directors.
Morgan Spurlock's is a lighthearted piece about baby's names. It looks at trends, the different reactions an African-American name will get on job applications as opposed to a non African-American name for example, and whether a person's name has a role in the destiny their life takes. It's slickly done and very funny. Alex Gibney's film is about the double dealing and underhand cheating that goes on in sumo wrestling, but as I have no interest in the sport I found it the least arresting of the respective efforts, though it does feature a fair share of revelations. Eugene Jarecki's entry gives us a fascinating theory as to why crime rates have dropped since the early '70s, while Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing afford us an amiable look at how schoolchildren can be bribed to achieve higher grades.
In all, it's a nimble, enlightening and very persuasive documentary that is neither patronising nor didactic. Well worth a look.
EXTRAS ★★ Audio commentary with producers Chris Romano, Dan O'Meara and Chad Troutwine; Audio commentary with writers and directors Gibney, Ewing, Spurlock, Gordon, Chilnick, Eugene Jarecki and Rachel Grady; additional interviews with the authors of the book, Levitt and Dubner (36:09)