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Editor's note: This review initially ran upon the film's premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Beginning August 22nd, the film will see national release in ten cities with gradual rollout to other cities in the proceeding weeks. For more information on public events and screenings near you, visit the film's official website. 

A poignant, terrifying and engrossing look at a topic normally relegated to powerpoint presentations by polyester suit clad professors, I.O.U.S.A. is a powerful documentary that makes no qualms about espousing its point of view. Centered around the "Fiscal Wake Up Tour" of current U.S. Comptroller General David Walker and The Concord Coalition Executive Director Robert Bixby, the film provides historical context for the ever increasing national debt and commentary on its economic, political and social ramifications. Even Bixby himself admits it's a decidedly unsexy topic, the "cold shower of political issues," as he puts it. Thankfully, documentary maker Patrick Creadon handily weaves the argument together with an exhaustive archive of political footage and commentary shows with well informed interviews from the likes of Warren Buffet and Ron Paul alongside man-on-the-street quizzes demonstrating how woefully ill-informed most Americans are about this issue. It's a strategy that generally works well, but far and away the best trick Creadon pulls are the montage sequences which express profound or complicated topics in succinct, entertaining ways. The opening sequence showcasing decades of presidencies all spitting out identical rhetoric and an early montage which elegantly sums up 300 years of American economic history are simply brilliant.

The film's biggest shortcoming is its scope; it tries to tackle too much, creating a somewhat incongruous narrative and detracting from the overall argument. Broken into four segments, the film is structured around different american deficits: budget, savings, trade and leadership. From a macro-perspective this seems like a reasonable breakdown, and it is, but in the trenches of each act it gets a bit muddled. One moment Nixon is dropping the gold standard, the next the Chinese are hoarding a mind-numbingly huge holdings of American capital and then the national debt clock is being moved near the IRS building. It's not a film-killer by any stretch, but by sticking to the core message, The United States is consistently spending dangerously more money than it generates, the overall argument of the film would be stronger.

One of the film's greatest achievements is its de-politization of the issue. Walker and Bixby go to great lengths to express this is not a liberal or conservative issue, simply the factual state we have found ourselves, and Creadon captures this well. Even in the ending portion of the film when Creadon concisely and masterfully exposes the presidency of GW Bush as a grossly negligent fiscal disaster, it's presented in factual way rather than a republican hit job.

Like Creadon's 2006 Sundance entry Wordplay, I.O.U.S.A. was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize this year, though its flaws will likely keep it from bringing home the win. That being said, it's a solid film that taps into a resurging interest in fiscal responsibility and an important warning to us all - we are jeopardizing the lives of our children and grandchildren. As a people it is our responsibility to pay our own way, and we must do it now.

Background Buzz A round up of related content from across the web including fan blogs, podcasts, analysis, news, magazines, and more.

- Official Website
- Video Interview with Director Patrick Creadon
- I.O.U.S.A. Producer Featured on "The Glick Report" from Fox Business
- Become Facebook Friends with I.O.U.S.A.