dtcherer I'm fond of watching documentaries, so this triumph of a film has remarkably resonated with me in an extraordinary way. This is a segment of life all around us that is so very unknown (the homeless), laid bare before us as never before. Congratulations to Demaio for this ingenious accomplishment! The sad story takes us down a plot never witnessed in any Hollywood screenplay, yet grabs your soul till the very end. Man against himself - the ultimate test! What separates any of us from homelessness can be found in the lessons portrayed. Nature, nurture, good, bad, ugly,... its all there.Without narrative, the unprodded course this man takes will answer a few more of life's biggest questions.

Knuckle "What happens when you give a homeless man $100,000?" As if by asking that question they are somehow morally absolved of what is eventually going to happen. The creators of "Reversal of Fortune" try to get their voyeuristic giggles while disguising their antics as some kind of responsible social experiment.They take Ted, a homeless man in Pasadena, and give him $100,000 to see if he will turn his life around. Then, with only the most cursory guidance and counseling, they let him go on his merry way.What are they trying to say? "Money can't buy you happiness?" "The homeless are homeless because they deserve to be?" Or how about, "Lift a man up - it's more fun to watch him fall from a greater altitude." They took a man with nothing to lose, gave him something to lose, and then watched him dump it all down the drain. That's supposed to be entertainment? They dress this sow up with some gloomy music and dramatic camera shots, but in the end it has all the moral high ground of car crash videos - only this time they engineered the car crashes and asked, "What happens when you take down a stop sign?"

savanna-2 Fascinating to watch, cringe worthy at times, deeply hurtful at others. Makes me wonder, as I'm sure many of you do as well, what finally became of Ted? I was sorry to see that things didn't work out as well as one would hope. Personally, I felt the substance abuse problems, for Ted, made proper decision making impossible, when it came to the the $$$$ and the responsibility of it!I felt that, while the the film makers did make clear that Ted had a problem with alcohol and pot, they only used it to sensationalize the tale. Putrid, if you as me. But hey, they went lower and I do mean scrapping the bottom low, by including footage where Ted told private details of this mothers life and at one point called her a "bar whore." Now, if this were serialized, then yes, I can see how that would be included in the same series as the part where they go and ultimately do the bulk of their filming in and around the home of Ted's mother.They befriended her, his family, sisters, etc. Then, turned around and used that footage which was shot while Ted was still estranged from his them. How could they do that? There were certainly other ways for the point to be made about Ted's moms struggles with alcohol!!! This stuff was all edited together for one feature documentary so those scenes and voice clips could have just as easily hit the cutting room floor. Maybe the creator's, producers, the whoever's involved in this, were disappointed that Ted's family was very nice to him and didn't start to immediately hit him up for cash and while they tried to give him sensible advice, there were no outrageous blow-ups when squandered the money on expensive cars (he bought 3 total and gave 2 away), drinking, wining and dining women.So maybe that's it ... they were expecting the Jerry Springer show and got a nice middle-class family instead! Maybe they're hoping after the family sees the documentary and hears these hateful comments, the family will call up and offer to give them a show "Jerry Springer" style! Naw, that won't happen, but what is certain, is that there is an entire family out there hurt because they participated in this! I wish the family the best and hope the the person who decided to include that footage is now sleeping under a bridge in LA and his Mama is not accepting his collect phone calls! Yes, Ted blew the money, lack of personal responsibility, but he's not the only one lacking in this crowd!

Beddiewong This documentary posed a lot of questions about the situation of the homeless. This might sound strange but the documentary showed how the money didn't matter. The 100,000 did not help this man. He had addiction problems with alcohol and cigarettes. And major problems with authority or any type of organization. He changed when he finally realized he had $100,000. But it was not a change for the better. The problems he carried only became greater than ever with the money.I thought it was helpful the man was given the opportunity to meet with professionals in regards to his money. They gave him great advice but he did not want it. He felt like everyone was telling him what to do. Pushing more experts at him would not have helped. If he didn't want to listen, he wasn't going to. He would not even listen to his own family! This isn't a bad documentary. He comes across the money like a chance encounter. This isn't too far from experiencing good luck. However, it is staged. That's where ethics come into play.As far as ethics, I am on the fence. It was a riveting documentary, an experiment, and train wreck in progress. It appealed to our curiosity. On the other hand, the filmmakers were sneaky with their approach. You can see how he thinks its just a documentary on his life, then everything changes when he receives the money, and from there--its all downhill. I don't know if its ethical because reality TV does the same thing. We watch shows that exploit peoples' abilities (American Idol), lifestyles (The Real World), and emotions (Survivor). They exploit people, it's cheaper than paying writers and building set, and we depend on contestants to fill in story lines. We watch people sign up to put themselves out there for all to see. They may sign bad contracts, get their 15 minutes of stardom, and when its over, we move on to the next season. Only if they are lucky and smart, do they survive and land roles on other shows---none of which are bigger than the show they went on first.Overall, I find this documentary interesting. I think you can get a lot out of it. I would like to know if the man returned to his old lifestyle. I think it was a gutsy film and I liked it.