Hard Times: Lost on Long Island

Hard Times: Lost on Long Island (2012)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Very good documentary from HBO taking a look at a group of people who are unemployed and have very little hope going forward. We follow these people as they look for work, fear losing their homes and wonder where the American dream went. I work with unemployed people so I am quite familiar with the stories being told here and I think for the most part the film does a very good job showing how tough it is out there. I guess you could say that the documentary could have covered someone who was making less than $20,000 a year and really had some major issues but that's only a small thing. For the most part the film really showed what it's like being unemployed and while no one ever really knows what it's like until they're the ones with a house payment coming up and can't pay it, the film does a good job at putting you in these people's shoes just to see what it's like. The documentary also digs in to how severe the entire situation is throughout the country and why things really don't seem to be getting any better and especially since we can't help some of these people because various politicians would rather argue than actually get something done.