DVD: Freakonomics (12)

Reviewed,Josephine Forster
Thursday 06 January 2011 20:00 EST
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With scribbled cartoon graphics and animations, this adaptation of Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner's bestseller looks like it's trying to cling to book form.

That might not have been a bad idea, because its mix of chatty documentary with short films confuses the material. The four film segments make interesting viewing – especially the Sumo-wrestling section – despite glaringly inappropriate ideas such as the use of strip-club footage to highlight negative perceptions of certain names (Bobbi, Brandi...). But while some of the film's claims are intriguing, they aren't backed up by the statistical analysis on which Dubner and Levitt place so much importance.

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