Press the play button on the video player to the right to watch the feedback from viewers that attended our premiere showing in Lake Mary, Florida. You can also click on the video while playing to enlarge the clip.
Navigating the Fog of Investing is something of a misnomer — there's nothing terribly foggy about it. In its attempts to vilify the haze of investing perpetuated by the conspiring minds of the investment media and brokerage communities - this picture instead provides the viewer with crystal-clear relevance in an emotional vacuum.
As the movie crosses paths with would-be investment experts, it is clear that the director of this film (Donn Burrows) has a birds'-eye-view to the inner workings of Wall Street's marketing machine. It's no great irony that Burrows, a former professional sportscaster in his earlier career, is able to offer-up a deeply disturbing insider's examination of the complicity between the financial media and Wall Street and their shameless ambitions to profit from capricious headlines. Utilizing his unique, silky-smooth broadcasters' voice, Burrows relies on a lifetime of experiences behind the microphone, to masterfully deliver a riveting play-by-play commentary on the action unfolding in front of the camera. Throughout the movie Burrows creates an atmosphere that keeps us questioning the status quo. For example, in one early scene in which he interviews a noted economist and publisher, we as viewers are left wondering as to exactly what was said? Seemingly straight-forward questions are shrouded in conflicting answers, leaving us desperately in need of a translator. It would be comical if it weren't for the fact that the interviewee is serious and wants us to believe that the forecasting and market predictions he makes are actually grounded in science! In the end, this film does a superb job of capturing the organic bustle of the investment world; challenging us to ponder its lascivious effects on our own investment beliefs.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars out of five
The presence of Joshua Helman, M.D. in a film is enough to explain the movie's popularity, but when you see it you discover that the movie has a message with a vengeance.
It is possible to see the movie as just another extension of Helman's basic character: always the quiet, pensive one with the painfully bottled-up capacity for ground-breaking insight; the sage and wise one forced to follow the rules of the game. This time, however, by breaking loose, he does what he has always wanted to do in his investment coaching career — tell the truth! If that were all however, then this film would be just another good example of documentary film-making. But wait a minute. This movie clearly and unmistakably gives us a character that understands the investor's psyche, and nevertheless endeavors to take a moral position that lays it all on the line.
Most times films that attempt to act as agents of change tend to get it backward and end up merely mirroring society. When they do get it wrong we tend to blame movies for the evils around us. "Navigating the Fog of Investing" is very effective at the level of a documentary. On another level, it uses potent star presence — Nobel Laureate, Harry Markowitz -- to lay things on the line. If there aren't mentalities like Helman's loose in the land, then this movie is irrelevant. If there are, we should not blame the messenger of the bad news.
Rating: 5 stars out of five
When you go to a feature film with a name like "Navigating the Fog of Investing," you're not going so much for its entertainment value, as for its content. However, every now and then a producer will pull a rabbit out of a hat and produce a film that is equally as entertaining as it is informative. Such is the case here.
Every red-blooded American investor knows how confusing the whole process of investing can be. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of investment advisors have made careers attempting to help with this process, assuring us they know exactly where the market is heading and how best to take advantage of it. However, this movie has no tolerance for investment psycho-babble. It just wants to get the truth out and that means using the lethal efficiency of a big Smith and Wesson 44 magnum to shoot dead some long- standing investment myths. This film is anamorphically enhanced for the widescreen, allowing for maximum enjoyment in movie theatres. They did an excellent job with the sound, utilizing the rear speakers for surround sound effects. The overall audio quality is excellent considering the number of shooting locations.
If you're a lover of docudramas, you won't be disappointed with this film.
Rating: No rating
Critics of this film, who describe it as one-sided propaganda, should look to its more subtle ad hominid message appeal. Showing the profound consequences of following the investment advice of a broker, through the real life experiences of the lead character, Fred Vigorito, has a way of making this movie very personal in a hurry.
Audiences who have screened this film have expressed comments like; "I always suspected it was that way." When I watched "Navigating the Fog of Investing" recently at a private screening, I too felt very much the same way. However, what I was more taken with was the lengths to which this film expertly tells a story that leaves you ruminating to yourself — "but there for the grace of God go I."
From the very start of "Navigating the Fog of Investing," my background as a retiree caused me to immediately be familiar with some of its subject matter. I know intimately about the dot com collapse — I lived it. What this movie does however, is tell the story of investing through the eyes of Fred Vigorito, a common, any person investor whose retirement was stolen from him through the unscrupulous actions of his broker. This is gut wrenching stuff and not for the faint of heart.
(Editorial comment: "Navigating the Fog of Investing" does not pull any punches and is in your face in its depiction of Wall Street's repugnant marketing machine. It really isn't appropriate for young children or the faint of heart).
This is not to say that "Navigating the Fog of Investing" is just about betrayal, greed, and a scathing rebuke about the exploitive ways of Wall Street. Throughout, Fred's real and upbeat life story is juxtapositioned against his failed attempts to merely be treated equitably and fairly by his brokerage firm. His suffering is powerfully portrayed with little, if any, dialogue.
This brings me to the tough, unblinking point-of-view of this movie. In a world where the media has allowed profits to trump the truth, "Navigating the Fog of Investing," is a timely movie that makes you reflect on the true value of any investment advice you might receive from either a broker or the media. It is a remarkable and powerful work that should be seen by any and all thinking human beings. I give it an A+.
Rated: Not Rated
This film deals with a subject not usually touched on by Hollywood: the pernicious profit motives of the media and the devastating effects it has on our ability to divine truth from fiction. Though it sounds ominous -- "Navigating the Fog of Investing"- I promise you it is not. The characters in this film are delivering a very important message to the world; and through this film they have something very crucial to convey.
The film's sense of responsibility proves almost paralyzing, allowing many of its powerful themes to be one-upped by the seriousness of what it's attempting. Perhaps the most unexpected way to see where "Navigating the Fog of Investing" could have been stronger is to compare it with the highly acclaimed movie "Sicko." Unlikely as it seems, both films share an interest in the effect propaganda has on the necessity of doing "what it takes to save American lives." Admittedly, "The Fog" is a very different kind of film intended to be shown to a very different audience. However, it could have used some of "Sicko's" life force in spreading its critical message.
Rated: 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars
Independent film lovers haven't had a lot to get excited about lately. There have been a few competent and thought provoking gems entered in recent years, but nothing truly at the level of the all time greats — until now.
"Navigating the Fog of Investing," ranks as a modern classic in the independent film genre. Yes, it is that good. From start to finish. "The Fog" is a captivating piece of cinema in every aspect. It's got a cast of good guys and bad guys, but where it really shines is in its slate of heavy hitters. It starts great and ends great; there is rarely a lag in-between.
I don't throw the word masterpiece around lightly, but I believe it is fitting here. And why not? Picturing the movies that fit into this category over the years, I imagine a series of film clips shown before an Oscar presentation or before lifetime achievement awards for a great director - The kind of clips that remind you why movies are great. And trust me, while I won't reveal anything about it, the ending sequence of "Navigating the Fog of Investing," could fit within those reels seamlessly.
Although some colleagues have warned me against such a statement so early in the "Oscar" season, I firmly believe that "Navigating the Fog of Investing" will be the most engaging movie I will see in 2008. I've been reviewing movies for years now and, in all that time, I've never given a perfect score to a theatrical release (not counting re-releases, director's cuts and the like). But Fog is a 10 in my book, a much welcome entry into the pantheon of classic independent films.
Rated: 5 stars out of 5 stars
Anyone viewing this film from a non-investors perspective will still discover much to appreciate. The one overriding theme that comes across with crystal clarity are the seamy motives of the financial media and the brokerage community. There is such a naked, unfettered conspiracy between them that the web of lies they weave makes one ponder the very essence of truthfulness. The dark reality however, is that these lies have been foisted upon investors throughout history. Over the centuries, our civilizations and technology have evolved, but that aspect of our essential nature to sell out to the almighty buck has not changed. Given the chance, the point is well made that we can easily revert to bestial barbarians who derive wealth through the plunder of others less fortunate.
Watching "Navigating the Fog of Investing" is an immersive experience; its message grips you immediately. When making Navigating the Fog of Investing, the director set himself up to fail. His goal was to take one of the least-understood concepts; investing -- and transform it into something new, vital, and emotionally potent. Was this audacious to the point of foolhardiness? Definitely not. Somehow, against all odds, he succeeds. (His explanation is simple: investors need him). It is hard to imagine even the most cynical critic being unmoved by his passion for doing what is right. Understanding that no one else in the world is in a position to share this message with the public without suffering reprisal and condemnation for doing so adds immeasurably to its weightiness. You don't have to be an investor to "get" this movie, just as you don't have to stick your finger in a light socket to see if it works. Good movies work on their own terms, and that's what happens with "Navigating the Fog of Investing." Rated: Adult Content
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