I.O.U.S.A.
Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 18 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 1 out of 18
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  1. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    75
    Although the movie is unabashedly alarming, it's also intelligent fun.
  2. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    80
    They deliver a clear and compelling primer on the federal budget deficit, the trade deficit, and the personal debt crisis, all of which are driving our country toward a catastrophic financial meltdown.
  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    It accomplishes an amazing thing. It explains the national debt, the foreign trade deficit, the decrease in personal savings, how the prime interest rate works, and the weakness of our leaders.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Sheri Linden
    75
    Packed with facts, figures and the testimony of policy experts, the film is no wallow in wonkiness, though, but a surprisingly sprightly tough-love lesson in fiscal responsibility.
  5. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    75
    It's this year's "An Inconvenient Truth."
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    100
    If they handed out an Academy Award for Most Gripping Graphs and Charts, this film would take it.
  7. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    10
    One graphic that I.O.U.S.A. doesn't include is a national balance sheet of our assets and liabilities, which would illustrate that the former is more than double the latter. We're in the black, and a film this deep in the red isn't something to be scared of at all -- or taken seriously.
  8. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    88
    There's no quick fix for a culture "addicted to debt," as one wag puts it in the film. But watching I.O.U.S.A. is a good place to start.
  9. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Marc Mohan
    83
    An informative and frightening documentary.
  10. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    75
    Does about as good a job as any film could be expected to.
  11. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    58
    Perhaps, like Al Gore's lecture on global warming, the force of its argument will stir some of those who see it to further research the subject.
  12. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    75
    Though the filmmaking is playful at times, the film is essentially 90 percent message, 10 percent movie.
  13. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    75
    George W. Bush is hammered for doubling the debt load with his high-spending, low-taxing ways.
  14. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Michael Rechtshaffen
    80
    This smartly assembled wake-up call concerning the nation's lousy spending habits proves to be as unexpectedly spirited as it is dispiriting.
  15. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    70
    Equal parts enlightening and alarming.
  16. Variety
    Reviewed by: Justin Chang
    80
    Highly informative documentary reps a heady mix of charts, graphs and talking heads... superb packaging and timely subject matter.
  17. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Michelle Orange
    60
    Both a handy election primer and a bowel-rattling cry of fiscal doom.
  18. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Philip Kennicott
    50
    There is a difference between the importance of a film's subject and the quality of a film's execution. And the execution is lacking. The film just isn't, well, very interesting.

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