Review: When I finished watching this documentary for the first time, I was left alone on my couch with a sense of frightened helplessness for the future of our country. That is most definitely the feeling the makers were aiming for, and they drove the point home in I.O.U.S.A. I had to watch it a second time to get my thoughts together, and also because I forced others to watch it with me (they were glad I did). The film focuses on the growing national debt, and for almost an hour and a half explains the many things wrong with our economy. As you probably know, it is quite the list. Cameras follow U.S. Comptroller General David Walker as he travels the country on a Fiscal Wake-Up Tour in his quest to raise awareness of the problems we face. Walker is supported by interviews with big players including Former Secretaries of the Treasury and Chairmen of the Federal Reserve, who are exactly the people you want to hear from when discussing this topic. The huge experience and wide political spectrum of the cast helps the audience believe, as David Walker says in the beginning of the film, “this is not a political issue.” However, that being said, you still won’t hear Alan Greenspan admitting any mistakes. The biggest obstacle for the film is to make a disturbing topic entertaining, and to make numbers exciting, but they do this in several ways. For one, “man on the street” interviews will give you company if you don’t understand much about the deficit. Also, a variety of charts, graphs, and other animations make the daunting numbers and projections understandable. A cartoon by investor Warren Buffett was my personal favorite. My one problem with the documentary was that it primarily focused on what is going wrong, and not enough of how to make it right. It gives you the feeling that something has to change and by the end you’re ready to make a difference right now! But you’re somewhat left wondering what to do about it. They include some actions we need to take, but the only thing I personally could come up with was to force others to watch it. All in all this is a film that everyone should see, especially young people that are going to have to deal with this problem in the near future (things could easily get out of control by 2040). We better hope we can change, because I.O.U.S.A. presents a very grim picture of what will happen if we don’t. Review by John Cassaras Informative: 4.5 – A great basic understanding of our national debt, and where we’re heading. Entertainment: 4.5 – It makes a depressing and scary topic something you want to know more about. Technical: 5 – The film did a great job using archival footage, graphics, and animations to keep things interesting. Overall: 4.5 – Whether it’s giving you a history lesson, or showing you future things to come, you’ll be hooked
 
Format: DVD Year: 2008 Running Time: 85 Min Distributor: Roadside Attractions Producer: Christine O'Malley Director: Patrick Creadon Date Reviewed: 10-13-09 Story: With the country's debt growing out of control, Americans by and large are unaware of the looming financial crisis. This documentary examines several of the ways America can get its economy back on the right track. In addition to looking at the federal deficit and trade deficit, the film also closely explores the challenges of funding national entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid (Netflix).