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Product Details
In Maxed Out, author/director James D. Scurlock (Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders) takes on America's debt crisis. Consequently, he touches on related issues like race, corporate malfeasance, and political subterfuge. Scurlocks multi-media approach incorporates statistics, news excerpts, and interviews, but it's rarely dull (comedy bits from Louis CK and tunes from Queen and Coldplay don't hurt). Speakers include economic professors, debt collectors, pawn brokers, investigative reporters, beleaguered consumers, and even Robin Leach (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous). Instead of New York and Los Angeles, he concentrates on mid-size cities, like Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, and Seattle. Plenty of small towns also come into play. Though he never presses the point himself, Scurlock allows his subjects to note the similarities between the credit industry and the drug trade (others use such incendiary terms as "rape"). One thing he neglects to mention, however, is pride. If house payments are ruining your life, selling that property may be the only solution. In most cases, however, it's hard not to feel for those individuals who didn't know what they were getting into before they signed their lives away. For some viewers, this will be a dispiriting documentary--three subjects recount the suicides of relatives who found their debt too much to bear--but in explaining exactly how lenders and creditors make money, Maxed Out can help others to avoid some of their most egregious practices. In other words, debt may be a downer, but knowledge is power. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Product Reviews
 (5 stars) - A Must View
I highly recommend this to highschool and college bound students in addition to a discussion about personal responsibility . Though I seriously believe that anyone with a shred of intuition , and who actually got the point of this movie, could misunderstand that concept .
If nothing else it will be a great edition or anyones ' really scarey movies ' collection .
 (1 stars) - Not suited for education
I purchased this video for a high school business class. I did not appreciate the "F-Word" dropped by one clip of a stand up comedian. The video had some good parts, but was way to slow in developing ideas. I've already thrown it away. D. Simpson, WYO
(5 stars) - A Must See To EVERYONE!
Whether you are a student, unemployed, homeless, or a multi millionare, if you still have a pulse, you need to see this movie. This movie should be a requirement for high school graduation. I believe if it gets through at least 1% of the high school graduation class, then it would make a tremendous impact on a person's life. I try to show this movie to as many people as possible.
 (4 stars) - Great start that loses its way
The first half of Maxed Out should be required viewing for anyone thinking about getting a credit card for themselves (or especially for their children). Viewers are presented with sobering stats about predatory lending practices, mafia-like interest rates and the unspoken desire of banks to see their clients "get behind" and tread water by paying the minimum payments for years or even decades.
The film takes the noble and tough love approach by showing the mistakes made by people who find themselves in credit card debt and the blissfully ignorant attitude many pay to skyrocketing interest payments and compounding late fees. For irresponsible people with bad credit, a $50 purchase on a credit card will likely turn into $200 by the time it is no longer on their balance. By not making responsible choices, people throw away thousands of dollars each year, and greedy bankers get richer and richer.
I was halfway through watching Maxed Out when I thought it was one of the most important documentaries I had ever seen...and then it falls apart. Like all documentaries these days, George W. Bush had to make an appearance as the creator of everything bad in the world, as the man personally responsible for everything that has gone wrong for the last eight years. The film provides far-reaching ideas about how Bush's relationship with bankers and his desire to pass tougher bankruptcy laws somehow causes people to go to Best Buy and purchase $5,000 plasma televisions they can't afford.
Sadly, the filmmakers lose focus on the real story: that people make poor choices to get into bad situations. All of the check-cashing stores and pre-approved credit card offers won't make a responsible person do the wrong thing. Presenting irresponsible people as victims of "the man" is a disservice to a country currently being strangled by financially irresponsibility.
(1 stars) - never received product
I never received this product although I waited ample time allowing for holiday mail. Since there is no phone number to contact a customer rep and no easy way to e-mail, I have asked my credit card provider to charge back the fee and they agreed. You are entirely too difficult to reach. I mentioned the fact that I had not received this product when I rated the other dvd I ordered at the same time and I tried an e-mail address and reported that I had not received the dvd but no one has ever contacted me. I will think long and hard before I order anything through Amazon again because it is too difficult to contact customer service. Consider me an very dissatisfied customer.
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