One of my friends is currently serving time in the same prison as Rita, so naturally I was interested in this documentary.
At just 70 minutes in length, it held my attention throughout - especially as the incredible details of Rita's fraud were revealed. Even though the details of white collar crimes can often be a little difficult to comprehend, this documentary explained the fraud in an easy-to-understand way. Don't worry, you don't need to be a CPA!
$53 million stolen over 20 years. That alone is quite a remarkable feat, and at first I couldn't help be impressed at the sheer magnitude of the crime - in a similar way in which I was impressed with the sheer brazenness of Frank Abagnale Jr in 'Catch Me If You Can'. Then the job-cuts, debt, and other cost-cutting impacts on the city of Dixon were revealed - and I fully understood how bad it all was, and the devastating ripple effect of this woman's actions.
I felt the film could've delved deeper into the impact on the every day Dixon resident, while also exploring what (from my perspective) seems like an almost compulsive addiction influencing Rita's behaviour. Her unwillingness to partake in the film no doubt impacted the latter.
It dragged slightly towards the end - but even so, I couldn't help but feel frustration at the massive number of people who failed to do their jobs properly, which would've uncovered Rita's simple frauds early-on. Had they done that, less money would have been embezzled, the city of Dixon would've suffered less and Rita would have already done her time and moved on in life.