65
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldSeattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldAbsorbing, scary documentary.
- 80SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirAnother strong journalistic-style film, this one exposes how unbelievably rapacious the financial industries have become in extending credit to unlikely prospects -- among them college students, nursing-home residents, small children, dogs and dead people.
- 80VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe LeydonIntelligent, informative and unusually entertaining documentary errs only when it yanks too insistently on heartstrings while focusing on worst-case scenarios involving desperate debtors driven to suicide.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJames Scurlock's documentary Maxed Out, tells the bone-chilling, bloodcurdling, hair-raising story of a country (guess which one?) that's up to its eyeballs in credit-card debt.
- 80Washington PostAnn HornadayWashington PostAnn HornadayA riveting, amusing, enlightening and emotionally affecting movie by a guy you've never heard of, about -- wait for it -- the consumer debt crisis.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKevin CrustLos Angeles TimesKevin CrustScurlock does well to counter the more dire aspects of the film with a razor-sharp sense of humor.
- 75Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerScurlock's filmmaking style leans more heavily on woebegone personal testimony than facts and figures, but politicians willing to go up against the credit industry's lobbyists would be well advised to take a look.
- 70Film ThreatFilm ThreatAt a time when our debt as individuals and as a nation is at an all-time high, Maxed Out offers a much needed look at this escalating dilemma.
- 50Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternWall Street JournalJoe MorgensternScurlock's documentary serves up cautionary tales of epic abuse, though the overall tone is faux cheerful and sometimes genuinely entertaining.
- 30Village VoiceVillage VoiceA slapdash piece of work totally indebted to second-hand rhetorical strategies.