Doc Watch: But I Play One on TV ...

 

EVERYONE IS LYING TO YOU FOR MONEY (B+) - Ben McKenzie seems like a nice guy. Good looking. Smart too. Wrote a book. And, hey, wasn't he that guy on "The O.C." 20 years ago? And Det. Gordon on "Gotham" 10 years ago? 

 

I wasn't familiar with McKenzie but he comes off as amiable and charming, and he has a degree in economics, so he's as good a person as any to turn a skeptical eye to the cryptocurrency market. McKenzie sets out to expose the flimsiness of the cryto schemes and dares the Doge bros to prove him wrong. Among his targets is a soft one, Sam Bankman-Fried (above left), who in retrospect seems like an obviously disturbed con man. (He ended up in prison.)

McKenzie brings a breezy, self-deprecating style to his fast-paced 90-minute documentary. He jumps out of the gate with a clever misdirection, and the comedic tone is set. He is fond of recording fans recognizing him out of context in the wild. He banters with an old buddy, whose curiosity about crypto helped inspire a book by McKenzie and this movie, filmed over several post-COVID years.

McKenzie knows a good hook when he sees one, and when you are married to Morena Baccarin ("Deadpool," TV's "Homeland"), you work her into the narrative. (She's good with a spousal side-eye.) Who am I to kick Morena Baccarin out of any movie; at times, though, her appearances come off as a humble-brag by the writer-director-star. He hangs out on the set of a movie starring Baccarin and Gerard Butler, proving the hunky leading man to offer an Everyman's opinion on the topic. (It also generates a typically droll one-liner from McKenzie, when he transitions to the next scene by intoning, "Maybe Gerard Butler was right.") However, McKenzie also feels the need to work his kids into the story, and that's where this spills into the self-indulgent. 

We watch McKenzie crash crypto events, expose potential charlatans and testify before Congress. I don't know enough about the topic to know which side is right and which is wrong, and you don't need to take a side to enjoy the film. You can be agnostic and appreciate McKenzie's genuine journalistic inquiry and get swept up in this obvious labor of love from an appealing guy. 

BONUS TRACK

From the end credits, "Joining a Cult" by Annika Norlin: