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The One Percent is an admirable effort by Jamie Johnson to expose the goals and intentions behind the richest 1 percent in America. Johnson uses his wealth and noteriety to gain access to some of the countries most powerful men, and in interviews they dance around the idea that their power and wealth has any negative affect on the country. As somewhat of a side story, Johnson continously confronts his father, a man who had the same mindset as Jamie when he was his age. His father avoids every attempt b his son to pry away at the exterior he has built up after many years. Ultimately, Johnson's naivete hinders him from truly reaching something great with this film. Perhaps if he was armed with more knowledge about economic policy and income disparity, he would have been better equipped to debate a grumpy Milton Friedman. Without this, he comes across as a disaffected trust-fund baby rejecting his guaranteed wealth. Despite this, the film succeeds admirably in exposing the attitudes of those at the top. They reject any idea that their attempts to keep the wealth concentrated within their tiny circle does anything but good in the world. They feel that by creating their own wealth, they are helping the economy grow and ergo helping the common man. They ignore the reality of the growing income disparity in America. Johnson's film is a tiny whistle blower being drowned out by families who own almost half of all the wealth in the country, so I feel that it will not be heard by many. I'd be interested to see Johnson's opinions on the current state of affairs following the huge change in American government since this film was produced (2006). With less of a capitalist government in power, he may feel more optimistic about the direction of the country. This film is available free on Youtube.com, so please share it with who you can. Milton Friedman, in the film, said that congress is moved by the will of the people. As unlikely as this seems, if there is enough groundswell support maybe change can finally come. 3 / 5 This review was crossposted from my blog.
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May 8, 2009 19:58
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It's not a particularly professional or well made film, but interesting and unique regardless. Funny though how every poor person in the movie (aside from a cop, who's middle class) was black, and most of them were retarded. It probably wasn't the filmmaker's intention, but that sure didn't put the struggles of the poor in good light in comparison. 3/5
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May 9, 2009 22:34
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I wish he was a better filmaker. Both "Born Rich and "The One Percent" lack any real insight despite his ability to gain access to some truly interesting people and provide a vantage point rarely seen. He is using his wealth to create, promote, and distribute movies without bothering to generate any tangible answers or even truly provocative questions. I am sure that this documentary will speak to disaffected college students that already have their minds made up, but for a more thoughtful audience it is only moderately interesting. 3/5
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Jun 10, 2009 18:17
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