Freakonomics (2010)

Editor's Note Inspired by authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner wildly popular best-seller FREAKONOMICS: A ROGUE ECONOMIST EXPLORES THE HIDDEN SIDE OF EVERYTHING, this documentary teams such acclaimed filmmakers as Morgan Spurlock (SUPER SIZE ME), Alex Gibney (TAXI TO THE DARK SIDE), and Seth Gordon (THE KING OF KONG: A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS) to look at human behavior from a perspective of incentives and statistics. Conventional wisdom gets caught in the crosshairs when JESUS CAMP co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady explore how underachieving kids respond when they're rewarded for hard work with greenbacks; Gibney throws open the curtain on sumo wrestling; Spurlock examines how baby names can affect a child's development; and WHY WE FIGHT director Eugene Jarecki offers a troubling hypothesis on why the early-'90s saw some of the lowest crime rates of the latter 20th century.

	Alex Gibney - Screenwriter
	Tony Hardmon - Director of Photography
	Michael Wandmacher - Composer
	Eugene Jarecki - Screenwriter
	Chad Troutwine - Presenter
	Morgan Spurlock - Screenwriter
	Rachel Grady - Screenwriter
	Rob VanAlkemade - Director of Photography
	Michael Furjanic - Composer
	Peter Bull - Screenwriter
	Paul Brill - Composer
	Darren Lew - Director of Photography
	Seth Gordon - Screenwriter
	Jeremy Chilnick - Screenwriter
	Stephen J. Dubner - Source Writer
	Steven D. Levitt - Source Writer
	Stephen J. Dubner - Host
	Steven D. Levitt - Host
	Heidi Ewing - Screenwriter
	Rachel Grady - Director
	Alex Gibney - Director
	Seth Gordon - Director
	Heidi Ewing - Director
	Morgan Spurlock - Director
	Eugene Jarecki - Director

Sight and Sound
"FREAKONOMICS is always accessible, and its encouragement to think outside the box has to be applauded." 02/01/2011

Uncut
3 stars out of 5 -- "[With] Levitt and Dubner's observations illuminated by short films....It's amusing and diverting..." 02/01/2011

Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "[D]iverting vignettes ignite some fascinating topics...and employ smart visual tricks to deliver reams of data..." 03/01/2011