Broke: The New American Dream

"When it comes to money and markets, the worst thing we can do is act like sheep," is how the tagline from "Broke: The New American Dream" starts.  Broke is a new documentary from director Michael Covel which looks at the economy, investing, and retirement in a unique and humorous way.  Covel attempts to cut through the media gloss from talking heads that tell us "everything is ok" and "we've reach the bottom, so time to buy!".  The trailer is below:

The movie is scheduled for release in 2009, and Covel's plan is to make it available to as many people as possible through film festival release, theatrical release, DVD, and other forms.  It looks to be an entertaining movie and I'm interested in what he has to say!

From his site:

"No one asked Michael Covel to make this film, but he was concerned this story would not get told in the most hopeful way, so he is telling it. Covel traveled 75,000 miles over the course of 2007 and 2008 to visit with hundreds of people from America to Europe to Asia. He interviews single moms facing foreclosure, Nobel Prize winners, professional poker players and US Congressmen. How did we dig such a big hole when it comes to our retirement, money and investments? We all want to retire, we all want to provide for our families, but Covel's film paints a picture that trusting the government, TV shows, big brokerage firms and mutual funds is not the way to go. There are ways for all of us to break away from the fear and confusion so many of us feel about our money, but the world has changed and it is time for straight talk."

I don't know about you, but I'm all for "straight talk".  I think he brings up a very good point that there should be a healthy distrust of the information which comes from government, media, and the investment industry.  People should be seeking out other sources to help provide a more well-rounded picture of what is happening.