Inside Job manages to deftly illustrate the causes of the financial collapse of 2008 without sounding like childish finger pointing and fits of anger.  Given the subject matter, it really is a major feat that it is capable of doing this.  Even so, watching interviews and congressional footage of the people who contributed to or knowingly ignored the business practices that lead to the ruin of so many live can’t help but bring up strong feelings.

Narrated by Matt Damon, the tale of the mortgage, deregulation and derivatives, is split into five parts and shows how the people at the top, those who were supposed to be watching and protecting the market were actually manipulating it for their own ends.  And while this documentary shouldn’t be viewed as the end all be all of information on the subject of the collapse of 2008, it makes for a very good jumping off point that can lead you to many details you might not have been previously aware.

The documentary was the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2011, and I feel it was well deserved.  The structure of the film is riveting, and it refrains from being inflammatory, unlike a Michael Moore documentary - which I always feel detracts from the message, and is well worth watching.

The DVD presentation contains the original documentary, commentary, deleted scenes and a making of short.  The commentary is done by director Charles Ferguson and producer Audrey Marrs and touches on subjects ranging from actual film making techniques to off camera comments by people they interviewed and was nearly as interesting as the documentary itself.  The deleted scenes consist mainly of interview questions that were cut from the final film, some of which I felt should have been left in while others either left no real impression on me.  Finally, the making of short focuses mostly on the reason for this documentary being made - that the people involved in the crisis want everyone to think that what happened was incredibly complex and couldn’t be foreseen or avoided, but the truth is that it isn’t all that complex and there were many warning signs of the impending collapse that were blatantly ignored - and plays more like and extended trailer than a real making of short.

Overall, if you are interested in the subject, the financial collapse of 2008, then this is a great addition to your library.