Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (2016)

Country: USA
Director: Steve James
Production Co: PBS Distribution
Genre: Documentary
Rating: 7.1/10
Length: 90 mins

Storyline

After the 2008 financial crisis that nearly destroyed the world economy, none of the American financial institutions faced prosecutions for their shady dealings that contributed to this debacle, except one. Abacus Federal Savings Bank, a small Chinese-American bank that catered to the neglected market of their community, was indicted on fraud charges and loan falsifications. As the bank disputed these accusations, many in the mainstream news media noticed that far larger competitors appeared to have committed similar misdeeds without legal consequence; likely because they were "too big to fail." This film explores the history of Abacus and its legal battle for survival against this hypocritical, and likely racist, application of the law that seemed to determined to punish them as a scapegoat for crimes that much larger felons deserve to face.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)

Plot Keywords

dysfunctional family, mother daughter relationship, father daughter relationship, jury trial, sibling rivalry, xenophobia, sister sister relationship, injustice, hypocrisy, scapegoat, humiliation, safe deposit box, 2000s, new york city, family business, banker, attorney, chinatown manhattan new york city, immigrant, economics

Short Review

The personalities make the picture, and James' camera presence is such that "Abacus" never seems to gin up or theatricalize anyone's thoughts or behavior.