{"id":167718,"date":"2017-04-28T08:31:28","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T15:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/?p=167718"},"modified":"2017-04-28T08:31:28","modified_gmt":"2017-04-28T15:31:28","slug":"abacus-small-enough-jail-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/2017\/04\/28\/abacus-small-enough-jail-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Abacus: Small Enough to Jail Movie Review"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Photo from the film Abacus Small Enough to Jail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Abacus: Small Enough to Jail
\nPBS Distribution
\nReviewed by: Harvey Karten, Shockya
\nGrade: B+
\nDirector:\u00a0 Steve James
\nCast: Thomas Sung, Vera Sung, Jill Sung, Heather Sung, Hwei Lin Sung, Matt Taibbi, Cyrus Vance Jr.
\nScreened at: Review 2, NYC, 4\/26\/17
\nOpens: May 19, 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n

Early in April 2017, Dr. David Dao was flying home<\/strong> where he was needed urgently. The United Airlines flight<\/strong> was overbooked, and through misfeasance on the part of United, four people admitted to their seats on the airline were asked to vacate.\u00a0 Only Dr. Dao refused.\u00a0 He was violently dragged<\/a> from the plane by police who were called by the airline and sustained injuries.\u00a0 In our age of identity politics, you\u2019ve got to ask: was it just a coincidence that an Asian-American was chosen to be the one passenger out of scores in their seats, or did the authorities think they would have an easy job with such a person, something that they\u2019d never consider doing with an African-American passenger?\u00a0 The same politics applies to a case that began years bank, during a time that the big banks and investment houses had given mortgage loans to people who could not possibly meet payments, given their financial status.\u00a0 Foreclosures followed, an economic crisis loomed, and Chase, Citibank, Goldman Sachs and other giants were not only let off the hook but actually the recipients of a government bailout of over $700 billion.<\/p>\n

Such was not the case with a Chinese-American bank, Abacus, a small affair in New York\u2019s Chinatown<\/a> founded by a fellow who is now eighty years old and who claims that he founded the small bank to make business easier for their clientele than would one of the big guys.\u00a0 His good will notwithstanding, he and his senior staff were prosecuted by Cyrus Vance Jr., the Manhattan District Attorney, on some 240 counts of felony and misdemeanor.\u00a0 \u201cAbacus: Small Enough to Jail\u201d is the documentary which reimagines the case, reenacting the absurdity of the prosecution in an understandably biased way, i.e. for the most part facts favorable to the defense were utilized.<\/p>\n

Specifically in May 2012 the Abacus bank and nineteen of its employees were prosecuted on fraud charges relating to hundreds of millions of dollars of mortgages sold to Fannie Mae between 2005 and 2010.\u00a0 The D.A., who took an active role in the prosecution.\u00a0 The principal defendant Thomas Sung, a lawyer born in Shanghai and known in New York for much pro bono service to Chinese-Americans, fired the one employee who, he admits, was guilty of fraud.\u00a0 To further his case, Mr. Sung points out that the default rate of 0.3% was only one-tenth the national average.<\/p>\n

Where is the evidence of\u00a0 such potential felonies as selling sub-par mortgage loans to Fannie Mae with the hope of conning that body?\u00a0 We can see why Steve James took the job of director of \u201cAbacus,\u201d given his social conscience, as he directed such movies as \u201cAt the Death House Door\u201d-about a prison chaplain who, after presiding at Texas executions came out against capital punishment.<\/p>\n

One of the best aspects of the film \u201cAbacus\u201d is that while many people speak, some excited members of the Sung family speaking over others, James avoids questioning a bunch of talking heads sitting in chairs.\u00a0 Archival film, of course, is shown, principally the blocks around New York\u2019s Chinatown with a few scenes in a restaurant seating the Sung family around a large table with an enviable supply of dark green vegetables and noodles.\u00a0 A nice surprise as well are some clips from Frank Capra\u2019s classic 1946 movie \u201cIt\u2019s a Wonderful Life,\u201d with Jimmy Stewart in the role of George Bailey, who saves his town of New Bedford from the forces of greed.<\/p>\n

One may wonder how many people charged with misdemeanors or felonies plead guilty rather than face weeks, maybe months of litigation with the chance that though innocent, they may not be able to convince a jury.\u00a0 If only ten percent of people charged with felonies demanded jury trials, the criminal justice system would come to a halt.\u00a0 Kudos to Thomas Sung for showing that Chinese-Americans are not the passive group that they are stereotypically considered to be.<\/p>\n

Unrated\u00a0\u00a0 88 minutes.\u00a0 \u00a9 Harvey Karten, Member, New York Film Critics Online<\/strong>
\nComments, readers?\u00a0 Agree? Disagree? Why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Story \u2013 B+<\/strong>
\nActing- B+<\/strong>
\nTechnical \u2013 B<\/strong>
\nOverall \u2013 B+<\/strong><\/p>\n