Maxed Out
Directed by James D. Scurlock

Opens on Fri., March 9

Imagine Maxed Out as a video comprehension section of a college entrance exam. You are given multiple choice answers to best summarize the movie’s message: a) credit card companies are screwing customers, b) the credit customers are screwing themselves c) the people least able to afford it are the furthest in debt, d) the United States government is even further in debt than the folks in answer “c”, or, e) all of the above.

The answer is “e” and as a reward you will soon begin receiving college loan offers through the mail.

Maxed Out is another entry in the recent phalanx of social documentaries. At the sacrifice of continuity, it winds through a pile of debtor profiles toward a bottom line of lots of citizens being very much out of money. As the stories are compelling, the lack of narrative thread is forgiven.

Most moving are the profiles of a group of Americans recently grown attractive to credit card issuers and moneylenders. The less affluent, once ignored due to low income and negative credits ratings, have now emerged as a fertile demographic, yielding profits to lenders through high interest rates and penalty fees. Even for the once well-heeled, victimized by misfortune, high-priced money becomes a last resort. When these borrowers fall behind, bill collectors prove that blood can indeed be sucked from the proverbial turnip.

Another impecunious group are college students. Nothing new here, except with the accessibility of credit cards, they are able to get broker than broke. It is actually a serious issue, as we hear from two mothers who say their children, students overwhelmed with financial obligations, committed suicide.

Maxed Out suggests we have arrived at a two-tier system of rich and poor in which the latter group, attempting to keep up with the necessities of life, are going bust just trying to stay even. Further more these economically wounded citizens, in growing numbers, serve as carrion for the lenders circling above, who dive in to feast at will.

On the other hand, the film suggests we’re all in the red. The “richest nation in the world” now owes other countries more than they owe us. They hold the mortgage. Each citizen’s personal tab is estimated at around $90,000.

Not always connecting the dots, moving from vignette to vignette, Maxed Out highlights variously related financial symptoms that suggest something rotten at the core. There are no great minds weighing in here, but this popular entry at the Seattle Film Festival strikes a chord.

A reasonable person might conclude that at best, the country’s situation is somewhat of a rat’s nest that, if unwound, would yield evidence that we are all tapped, i.e., Maxed Out.