Freakonomics -- Film Review

Based on the surprise best-selling book by economist Steven D. Levitt and author Stephen J. Dubner, the film version of "Freakonomics" comes about as close to a franchise as a documentary can probably get. Made by an A-list team of documentary filmmakers, the film -- which received its world premiere as the closing attraction of the Tribeca Film Festival and was recently picked up for distribution by Magnolia -- will certainly attract attention. But like the source material, it's ultimately less than the sum of its parts -- an assemblage of moderately interesting human interest stories that don't carry much weight on the big screen.