Freakonomics On DVD: Five Easy Theses

Is Freakonomics—the film version of the E-Z-2-read nonfiction bestseller and, even five years after its publication, a reliable staple of airport bookstores—a great documentary. No, it is not. It is fluffy and lightweight and many of its conclusions seem scentifically dubious.

But I talked about it as my DVD "Hidden Gem" recommendation on CBC Radio this week anyway—partly because I figured (and I don't mean this in a condescending way) that the people listening to Edmonton AM would probably enjoy it. And also I found it interesting to see how, even though they're all working from different chapters from the same source material, the voices of all of these documentary filmmakers remained distinct and recognizable: for instance, even in a story about sumo wrestling Alex Gibney can't resist bringing the conversation back around to Wall Street malfeasance; and Morgan Spurlock can't help but turn whatever topic he's discussing into an excuse for dumb, cutesy one-liners. As I say at the end of this segment, it's a movie that would make Frederick Wiseman want to tear his hair out, but as factoid-filled pop edutainment goes, Freakonomics is a well-produced bit of brain candy. You can hear the full segment by clicking here.