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Tuesday, 15 August 2006 02:31 |
Unfortunately, while the film -- which Russo produced, directed, edited and wrote -- has some fascinating and compelling arguments, it quickly assumes the tone of an angry diatribe rather than a well-reasoned political discussion.
It is most effective in its first half, when the Libertarian filmmaker methodically examines the controversies surrounding the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, most notably its lack of legal specificity when it comes to actually collecting tax revenue. Utilizing interviews with a variety of expert witnesses, including a Texan congressman, a former IRS commissioner, former IRS agents, attorneys, authors, etc., Russo makes provocative, albeit scattershot arguments about the system.
Unfortunately, the film's passionate arguments are undercut by its general air of hysteria, and matters are not helped by a free-form second half in which Russo attacks a wide variety of targets, including the Federal Reserve System, election laws, the Patriot Act, the proposed national identity card and even the abolition of the gold standard.
Russo is an ingratiatingly folksy on-camera presence, though clearly not lacking a hard edge when it comes to making his case. But while the ideas his film brings up are more than worthy of serious discussion, one gets the feeling that they require a more analytical, objective approach than they receive here.
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