Living on the Edge

Hosted by Bill Moyers, this Frontline episode--according to the video box--"tells the story of several hardworking Milwaukee families struggling with low-paying jobs." In actuality, the documentary looks at a total of two: the Newman and Stanley families. Filmed over five years, the cameras periodically check in on the families to see how they're doing under the Bush and, later, Clinton economies. Predictably, the shift from a Republican to a Democratic government did not, in and of itself, make any difference in the bottom line of the family budgets; the economy's problems go far beyond partisan politics. But even this simple insight isn't mentioned in the video. Unquestionably, a lot of people will empathize with the economic loop-de-loops that the profiled families suffer, but they won't come away any the wiser, since the documentary never manages to rise above the level of elementary reportage. We already see these sad "human-interest" stories presented without any real in-depth analysis every other day on the news for free; Living on the Edge adds neither new fodder for the debate nor even hints at possible solutions. Not recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)