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Movies / On DVD / America: Freedom To Fascism
America: Freedom To Fascism

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America: Freedom To Fascism (2006)

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Reviews Counted:30

Fresh:8

Rotten:22

Average Rating:4.6/10

Consensus: This documentary about the American income tax and whether citizens must pay it is more of a scattershot diatribe than a persuasive argument.

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Synopsis: Paying taxes ranks pretty highly on most people's "Least Favorite Things To Do" lists, but according to filmmaker Aaron Russo, U.S. citizens aren't actually legally obliged to pay federal income... Paying taxes ranks pretty highly on most people's "Least Favorite Things To Do" lists, but according to filmmaker Aaron Russo, U.S. citizens aren't actually legally obliged to pay federal income tax at all. This is the premise on which Russo's Libertarian documentary, AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM, is based, and he speaks at length with various former IRS employees and people from financial institutions to back up his point. Russo contends that the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows Congress to levy and collect taxes on incomes, was never properly ratified. He then proceeds to explain how this is the case, presenting all his facts and theories in a fun, easy-to-understand manner that will be familiar to fans of Michael Moore's movies. But after setting out his stall, Russo really goes for the jugular, making claims that America is becoming a police state in which citizens are gradually having their freedoms eroded. ID cards and RFID chips are two items Russo is particularly opposed to, and he augments his warnings about these threats with deeply brooding and ominous music. However, despite his claims of doom and gloom, Russo is an optimist, bringing his movie to a crescendo as he informs his audience what they must do to counter all these threats to individual expression. AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM is an interesting and thoughtfully constructed piece that sometimes struggles to make its point heard, possibly due to the meager budget Russo was working with. [More]

Starring: Aaron Russo, Sherry Peel Jackson, Irwin Schiff, Dave Champion

Starring: Aaron Russo, Sherry Peel Jackson, Irwin Schiff, Dave Champion, Joe Banister, Katherine Albrecht

Director: Aaron Russo

Director: Aaron Russo
Screenwriter: Aaron Russo
Producer: Richard Whitley, Aaron Russo
Composer: David Benoit
Studio: Cinema Libre

[See More Credits]

Reviews for America: Freedom To Fascism

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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"America: Freedom To Fascism" captures America's current gloom and doom zeitgeist with plenty of controversial ideas to send any dinner party into a shouting match.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/21/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

A thought-provoking clarion call which concludes that America, instead of being by the people and for the people is, in truth, an oppressive, exploitative Big Brother where government and corporations reign supreme.

Full Review Source: One People's Project | comment Comment
05/11/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
One People's Project

repetitive and completely self-serving, with Russo making a serious of specious arguments that are largely laughed at by his serious subjects

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
04/02/07
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
10/07/06
Dallas Morning News

There is food for thought here. But Russo loses his grasp on the material once he expands his focus.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/06/06
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

If Russo really wanted to attract an audience, he should have called this: Why You Don't Have To Pay Taxes! Now that's a title that would get people in the seats.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
10/06/06
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Russo comes off as a paranoid ranter, the movie equivalent of the street-corner pamphleteer with tinfoil in his hat to keep out the gamma rays.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
10/06/06
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Russo's brand of libertarianism is at best naive and at worst tin-foil-hat crazy.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/05/06
Kerry Lengel
Kerry Lengel
Arizona Republic

The catch is the IRS doesn't care and will seize all your property and possibly throw you in jail if you refuse to pay.Talk about a buzzkill.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
10/05/06
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

If it's true, we're all due a monumental refund; if not, Russo and his cohorts may want to start looking for write-offs.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
09/29/06
Marc Mohan
Marc Mohan
Oregonian

Essentially the filmmaking equivalent of an enraged blog on the Web -- pointed and provocative, but not exactly a comprehensive source for the issues it addresses.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/28/06
Mark Olsen
Mark Olsen
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even the staunchest and most forgiving of Libertarians would have to admit that this film comes up quite short.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
08/19/06
Peter Sobczynski
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

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.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
08/07/06
Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Russo feels his direction of this film is a brave, seditious deed. The audience I was surrounded by at an advance screening agreed.

Full Review Source: New York Theatre Wire | comment 1 Comment
08/06/06
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
New York Theatre Wire

Lies, damn lies and statistics. It's pure propaganda.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment 2 Comments
08/05/06
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
08/05/06
Jonathan W. Hickman
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders

This movie is so humorless that it makes you wax nostalgic for the good old days when Michael Moore was sticking it to the man.

Full Review Source: Cinemania | comment Comment
08/04/06
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Cinemania

Russo is a clearly a healthy minded skeptic who tries to get both sides of the story.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/28/06
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Filmmaking lapses aside, this is an impassioned and generally persuasive film that rings all too eerily true.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
07/28/06
Timothy Knight
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

The mess we're in never looked so messy.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
07/28/06
Nathan Lee
Nathan Lee
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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