| Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Alex Gibney |
| Written by | Alex Gibney Chad Beck Adam Bolt |
| Produced by | Blair Foster |
| Starring | Jack Abramoff Michele Bachmann |
| Narrated by | Alex Gibney |
| Cinematography | Ronan Killeen Lisa Rinzler |
| Edited by | Erin Barnett Chad Beck Adam Bolt |
| Music by | Peter Nashel |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | PBS |
Release date |
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Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Park Avenue: Money, Power and the American Dream is a 2012documentary film about thewealth gap in the United States directed byAlex Gibney.
The documentary compares the access to opportunities of residents ofPark Avenue both on theUpper East Side and in theSouth Bronx.[2][3][4] It draws uponMichael Gross's book740 Park: The Story of the World's Richest Apartment Building, which showed that many billionaires live in that building.[2] It goes on to explain that billionaire heirDavid Koch made significant donations toPaul Ryan in the same way that banker Steven Schwartzman lobbiedCharles Schumer—for their own gain.[2] The documentary includes interviews with a doorman at 740 Park Avenue, journalistJane Mayer,Yale University ProfessorJacob Hacker,University of California, Berkeley ProfessorPaul Piff, andRepublican advisorBruce Bartlett.[4]
Reviewing it forThe New York Times, Neil Genzlinger deplored the fact that the documentary equated great wealth with "callousness," adding that many wealthy people are very generous with their resources.[2] InThe Daily Telegraph, Neil Midgley compared it toMichael Moore's documentaries.[3] He went on to suggest that it was "not entirely unconvincing," calling it "demagoguery."[3] He concluded that it was "a poor contribution."[3] Writing forThe New York Observer, Kim Velsey suggested, "the documentary unfurls like a crime story."[4] She concluded that the documentary "makes a compelling case that inequality imperils democracy and that the victims of the inequality include not only those who find themselves in the rapidly expanding underclass, but the American dream itself."[4] The film was the subject of aWNET scheduling controversy in 2012.
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