Inside Job

SYNOPSIS

Hollywood was hit just as hard as any other industry by the global financial crisis of 2008, but while it was probably too soon for a compelling drama about the situation to be made then, this complex documentary certainly tackles the subject head-on. Calmly narrated by Matt Damon, Charles Ferguson's powerful film explains that Wall Street's meltdown wasn't simply an unfortunate fluke but the inevitable consequence of a flawed and breathtakingly manipulated system. Though its frequent use of jargon can be intimidating - as Michael Moore's less acerbic Capitalism: a Love Story proved, even financiers themselves don't understand half of it - what slowly emerges is a portrait of an industry that creates nothing but greed. Worse still, Ferguson reveals how unscrupulous bankers operate with impunity, working in the knowledge that governments will always bail them out, and leaves us with the uncomfortable realisation that the way the gravy train is structured means that nothing is ever likely to change. It's a fascinating but terrifying insight into a very murky world.