Like the 2005 bestseller that inspired it, the movie version of Freakonomics is fleet and accessible, an enjoyably light and lively pop artifact aimed at bringing some unusual economic theories to the masses.
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MovielineMichelle Orange
MovielineMichelle Orange
Best in show is the final chapter, by "Jesus Camp" directors Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing. "Can A Ninth Grader Be Bribed To Succeed?" is as straightforward a title as the others are oblique.
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Variety
Variety
This frisky adaptation of the Steven Levitt-Stephen Dubner bestseller on human behavior by the numbers adds up to a revelatory trip into complex, innovative ideas and altered perspectives on how people think.
Despite a roster of off-kilter documentarians each directing an episode, Freakonomics only partly delivers the sense of traipsing into uncharted territory.
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The end result is more like a supermarket on Saturday afternoon. The content is engaging, though.
Freakonomics' commercial success reflected the once-fashionable notion that economics could explain, well, everything.
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Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
As a movie, Freakonomics is like Jujubes for the brain - it starts to get cloying halfway through the box.
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Like the source material, it's ultimately less than the sum of its parts -- an assemblage of moderately interesting human interest stories that don't carry much weight on the big screen.
50
Village Voice
Village Voice
A quartet of uneven TV pilots posing as a full-length documentary.