''I Want Your Money'' is a 2010 American

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

by filmmaker

Ray Griggs Vice Admiral Raymond James Griggs, (born July 1961) is an Australian senior public servant and a former senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy. He served as Chief of Navy from June 2011 to June 2014, before being appointed Vice Chief of ...

. It contrasts

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

to Ronald Reagan.

Premise

The film examines and contrasts the differences between "

Reaganomics Reaganomics (; a portmanteau of ''Reagan'' and ''economics'' attributed to Paul Harvey), or Reaganism, refers to the neoliberal economic policies promoted by U.S. President Ronald Reagan during the 1980s. These policies are commonly associat ...

" and " Obamanomics" as American economic and governmental policies, as well as their respective impact on life in the United States of America, as summarized from film's official web site:

Two versions of the American dream now stand in sharp contrast. One views the money you earned as yours and best allocated by you. It champions the traditional American dream, which has played out millions of times through generations of Americans, of improving one's lot in life and the entrepreneurial spirit of daring to dream and to build big. The other believes that the federal government, using taxpayers' money, should play a major role in leveling out the nation's wealth to guarantee outcomes to all, regardless of effort. How America chooses between these two views of the role of government, at this crucial juncture, will have everything to do with the future we and our children and our children's children will enjoy.

The film uses computer animation, film clips, archival footage, dramatizations, music, graphics, and on-camera interviews with well-known public figures and experts "to tell the story in the plainest terms of the choice between the Obama and the Reagan views of the role of the federal government in our society."

Interviews

The following individuals were interviewed for ''I Want Your Money'': *

Gary Bauer Gary Lee Bauer (born May 4, 1946) is an American civil servant, activist, and former political candidate. He served in President Ronald Reagan's administration as Under Secretary of Education and Chief Domestic Policy Advisor, and later became p ...

* Kenneth Blackwell *

Andrew Breitbart Andrew James Breitbart (; February 1, 1969 – March 1, 2012) was an American conservative journalist, and political commentator who was the founder of ''Breitbart News'' and a co-founder of ''HuffPost''. After helping in the early stages of '' ...

* Chris Edwards *

Lee Edwards Lee Willard Edwards (born 1932) is an American academic and author, currently a fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He is a historian of the conservative movement in America. Background Edwards was born in Chicago in 1932. Edwards says he was in ...

Steve Forbes Malcolm Stevenson Forbes Jr. (; born July 18, 1947) is an American publishing executive and politician who is the editor-in-chief of ''Forbes'', a business magazine. He is the son of longtime ''Forbes'' publisher Malcolm Forbes and the grandso ...

Alison Fraser
* Newt Gingrich * Mike Huckabee *

Allen Icet Allen Icet (born March 31, 1957) is a Republican politician. He served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2002 to 2010 and as Chairman of the House Budget Committee from 2005 to 2010. Icet was appointed Greene County Collector on Ma ...

Tom McClintock Thomas Miller McClintock II (; born July 10, 1956) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2009. His district stretches from the Sacramento suburbs to the outer suburbs of Fresno; it includes Yosemite National ...

Thad McCotter Thad is a masculine given name, often a short form ( hypocorism) of Thaddeus. It may refer to: *Thad Allen (born 1949), United States Coast Guard admiral * Thad Altman (born 1955), American politician * Thad Balkman (born 1971), American politician ...

* David M. McIntosh * Edwin Meese lll * Stephen Moore * Kate Obenshain *

Star Parker Star Parker is an American syndicated columnist, Republican politician, author, and conservative political activist. In 1995, she founded the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE). In 2010, she was the unsuccessful Republican nominee fo ...

Michael Reagan Michael Edward Reagan (born March 18, 1945) is an American political commentator, Republican strategist, and former radio talk show host. He is the adopted son of former U.S. president Ronald Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman. He w ...

* Lila Rose *

George Runner George C. Runner, Jr. (born March 25, 1952) is an American politician from California who served on the California State Board of Equalization, the only publicly elected tax commission in the United States. A Republican, he represented the Boar ...

* Rob Schaaf *

John Stossel John Frank Stossel (born March 6, 1947) is an American libertarian television presenter, author, consumer journalist, and pundit. He is known for his career as a host on ABC News, Fox Business Network, and Reason TV. Stossel's style combines ...

William Voegeli
*

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...

Release

The film had a limited release on October 15, 2010 in 537 theater screens, with an opening weekend box office of $249,428 USD in North American rentals.

Reception

''I Want Your Money'' holds a critical rating score of 13% based on 8 reviews at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

. Joe Leydon of

Variety magazine ''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based ...

called it "Equal parts hagiography and hatchet job."

References

External links

* * * * * {{Metacritic film 2010 animated films 2010 films 2010 documentary films American animated documentary films Documentary films about American politics Documentary films about economics Documentary films about presidents of the United States Films about Barack Obama 2010s English-language films 2010s American films