Maxed Out

I saw the movie "Maxed Out" over the weekend.  It's a documentary about credit card debt.  Website here.  Mostly I wanted to see it because I saw in the trailer that my Bankruptcy professor from law school, Elizabeth Warren, was in the movie, and anything she's involved in is probably going to be pretty awesome.  Alas, it's not an awesome movie.  It's superficial and unfocused and even if I agree with the point it's trying to make, I don't really think it did a good job trying to make it.  The thesis, basically: Credit card companies are bad.  People are in too much debt, because credit card companies are too willing to give them credit.  And also the country is in too much debt because of President Bush.  The movie failed, for me, to make the connection between personal credit card debt and the national debt.  I'm not sure what the government's failure to provide adequate body armor to soldiers has to do with credit card companies being evil.  I think the filmmaker had things he wanted to say that aren't really about credit card companies, and just stuck them in there. 

I also think he chose the subjects of the film more for the sympathy they could make the audience feel than for supporting the argument that credit card companies are evil.  A lot of focus on the parents of two college students who got into credit card debt and committed suicide.  Sad, absolutely.  Unclear if the credit cards were really the issue.  Okay, so maybe it's bad for credit card companies to issue credit to college kids without any income... but there are lots of responsible college students who benefit from access to credit, and even if you get into debt, is that enough that we can blame the companies for the kids killing themselves?  A lot of focus on the family of a woman who drove her car into a lake because she had big credit card debts and a gambling problem she was keeping from her family.  Again, not sure why the credit card company is to blame.

The problem with the movie is that there are lots and lots of legitimately bad things that credit card companies are doing, lots of bad things about the new bankruptcy laws, lots of fine print that takes advantage of people, interest rates and fees are too high, predatory lending, all sorts of bad things.  But this movie doesn't really explain any of them. 

And, also, the movie didn't really need to be made.  There's a PBS Frontline special that says the same thing, but better and more convincing... and you can watch it for free online.  (It also features Professor Warren, who didn't come off badly at all in Maxed Out, but she's better here).

There are parts of Maxed Out that work -- the best part is a section on some guys who started a collection agency, there's a lot of good interview footage with them.  If the whole movie was about them, it would be a more interesting piece.  As it is, it's scattershot and feels like it's motivated by a political agenda.  On the whole, it just didn't work for me.