The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, INSIDE JOB traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia.
Reviews
The Daily Mail
Chris Tookey
“One of the outstanding journalistic achievements of the past decade, this is a film that will leave anyone who watches it better informed and, quite rightly, angrier.”
18/02/2011
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The New Yorker
David Denby
“Many documentaries are good at drawing attention to an outrage and stirring up our feelings. Ferguson’s film certainly does this, but his exposition of complex information is also masterly. Indignation is often the most self-deluding of emotions; this movie has the rare gifts of lucid passion and informed rage.”
18/10/2011
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The New York Times
A. O. Scott
“The gist of this movie, which begins in a mood of calm reflection and grows angrier and more incredulous as it goes on, is unmistakably punitive. The density of information and the complexity of the subject matter make “Inside Job” feel like a classroom lecture at times, but by the end Mr. Ferguson has summoned the scourging moral force of a pulpit-shaking sermon. That he delivers it with rigor, restraint and good humor makes his case all the more devastating.”
07/10/2010
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The Daily Telegraph
Tim Robey
“The main thrust of Ferguson’s argument becomes the corruption of a system whose gamekeepers are also its poachers: regulation and safety mechanisms are hardly top priorities when the alleged protectors of the economy have so much vested in its exploitation. Not all of this is news, and some of it amounts to shouting at a brick wall, but it’s reasoned shouting.”
17/02/2011
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Time Out
Dave Calhoun
“You’ll need a clear head to follow this impressive and angry American doc about the financial meltdown, as it races through late-twentieth-century American economic policy...”
17/02/2011
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The Times
Wendy Ide
“The financial collapse that nearly took down the entire world is perhaps not the sexiest subject out there but in terms of its scrupulous journalistic instincts, confident editing and global impact, this film is the documentary contender to beat at this year’s Oscars.”
18/02/2011
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Total Film
Jonathan Crocker
“Despite leaving you flailing at times with its sheer weight of detail, this superior documentary is packed to the gills with enraging, depressing answers as to what ignited the 2008 recession.”
05/02/2011
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Variety
Rob Nelson
“Pic's historical overview of the past 30 years in Wall Street finance may contain little that's new, but its concise rendering here is suitably bone chilling.”
15/05/2010
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The Independent on Sunday
(Unknown)
“...the most pathetic and fascinating individuals in this film are the economists, whose uncomfortable links with private enterprise and the banks are excruciatingly dragged out of them. Fingering them is a novelty, and they come off badly. Especially enjoyable is a tetchy exchange with Glenn Hubbard, former economic adviser to George W Bush, and current dean of Columbia University Business School. No, he won't tell us his outside earnings. ”
20/02/2011
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The Observer
Philip French
“...intelligent, riveting and informative”
20/02/2011
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Empire Magazine
Damon Wise
“In short, much more than Fahrenheit 9/11 or any of Michael Moore’s films, it is a true barometer of our times, in that it dispassionately explains the financial mess that we find ourselves in... sobering, angering, but beautifully restrained attempt to alert us to the robbery that’s been going on in plain sight...”
18/02/2011
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The Guardian
Peter Bradshaw
“This film is as gripping as any thriller. Aided by some fascinating interviews, Ferguson lays out an awful story... Ferguson has no answers, other than a faintly unedifying hint that bankers could be brought low if rumours about their systemic addiction to drugs and prostitutes could be made to stick legally – like Al Capone's tax evasion.”
17/02/2011
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The Independent
Anthony Quinn
“I have seen it described as a "classroom" documentary, which, in this case, is precisely what many of us require. By the end of it you won't be drumming your fingers and waiting for the bell; you'll be outraged and possibly horrified at what you've just learnt.”
18/02/2011
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The Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
“This smart and confident film, thick with useful information conveyed with cinematic verve, lays out in comprehensive but always understandable detail the argument that the meltdown of 2008 was no unfortunate accident.”
15/10/2010
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The Sunday Times
Edward Porter
“...the beginner’s guide offered here doesn’t even measure up to primers that have been offered elsewhere in the media. The film relies on plain diagrams and narration delivered in a colourless tone by Matt Damon... it doesn't help that this American film has taken several months to reach British cinemas ”
12/02/2011
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