RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / America: Freedom To Fascism
America: Freedom To Fascism

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

America: Freedom To Fascism (2006)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
27 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:30

Fresh:8

Rotten:22

Average Rating:4.6/10

Consensus: This documentary about the American income tax and whether citizens must pay it is more of a scattershot diatribe than a persuasive argument.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Education/General Interest

Theatrical Release:Jul 28, 2006 Limited

Box Office: $61,200

Synopsis: Paying taxes ranks pretty highly on most people's "Least Favorite Things To Do" lists, but according to filmmaker Aaron Russo, U.S. citizens aren't actually legally obliged to pay federal income... Paying taxes ranks pretty highly on most people's "Least Favorite Things To Do" lists, but according to filmmaker Aaron Russo, U.S. citizens aren't actually legally obliged to pay federal income tax at all. This is the premise on which Russo's Libertarian documentary, AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM, is based, and he speaks at length with various former IRS employees and people from financial institutions to back up his point. Russo contends that the 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which allows Congress to levy and collect taxes on incomes, was never properly ratified. He then proceeds to explain how this is the case, presenting all his facts and theories in a fun, easy-to-understand manner that will be familiar to fans of Michael Moore's movies. But after setting out his stall, Russo really goes for the jugular, making claims that America is becoming a police state in which citizens are gradually having their freedoms eroded. ID cards and RFID chips are two items Russo is particularly opposed to, and he augments his warnings about these threats with deeply brooding and ominous music. However, despite his claims of doom and gloom, Russo is an optimist, bringing his movie to a crescendo as he informs his audience what they must do to counter all these threats to individual expression. AMERICA: FREEDOM TO FASCISM is an interesting and thoughtfully constructed piece that sometimes struggles to make its point heard, possibly due to the meager budget Russo was working with. [More]

Starring: Aaron Russo, Sherry Peel Jackson, Irwin Schiff, Dave Champion

Starring: Aaron Russo, Sherry Peel Jackson, Irwin Schiff, Dave Champion, Joe Banister, Katherine Albrecht

Director: Aaron Russo

Director: Aaron Russo
Screenwriter: Aaron Russo
Producer: Richard Whitley, Aaron Russo
Composer: David Benoit
Studio: Cinema Libre

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

Rent DVD
 
 

Click on the "ADD" button to put this movie into your Netflix queue.

 
 
Buy DVD
 
 
Release:

Dec 12, 2006

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for America: Freedom To Fascism

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

"America: Freedom To Fascism" captures America's current gloom and doom zeitgeist with plenty of controversial ideas to send any dinner party into a shouting match.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/21/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

A thought-provoking clarion call which concludes that America, instead of being by the people and for the people is, in truth, an oppressive, exploitative Big Brother where government and corporations reign supreme.

Full Review Source: One People's Project | comment Comment
05/11/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
One People's Project

repetitive and completely self-serving, with Russo making a serious of specious arguments that are largely laughed at by his serious subjects

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
04/02/07
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
10/07/06
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There is food for thought here. But Russo loses his grasp on the material once he expands his focus.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
10/06/06
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

If Russo really wanted to attract an audience, he should have called this: Why You Don't Have To Pay Taxes! Now that's a title that would get people in the seats.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
10/06/06
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Russo comes off as a paranoid ranter, the movie equivalent of the street-corner pamphleteer with tinfoil in his hat to keep out the gamma rays.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
10/06/06
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Russo's brand of libertarianism is at best naive and at worst tin-foil-hat crazy.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
10/05/06
Kerry Lengel
Kerry Lengel
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The catch is the IRS doesn't care and will seize all your property and possibly throw you in jail if you refuse to pay.Talk about a buzzkill.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
10/05/06
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

If it's true, we're all due a monumental refund; if not, Russo and his cohorts may want to start looking for write-offs.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
09/29/06
Marc Mohan
Marc Mohan
Oregonian

Essentially the filmmaking equivalent of an enraged blog on the Web -- pointed and provocative, but not exactly a comprehensive source for the issues it addresses.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/28/06
Mark Olsen
Mark Olsen
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Even the staunchest and most forgiving of Libertarians would have to admit that this film comes up quite short.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
08/19/06
Peter Sobczynski
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

While the film -- which Russo produced, directed, edited and wrote -- has some fascinating and compelling arguments, it quickly assumes the tone of an angry diatribe rather than a well-reasoned political discussion.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
08/07/06
Frank Scheck
Frank Scheck
Hollywood Reporter
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Russo feels his direction of this film is a brave, seditious deed. The audience I was surrounded by at an advance screening agreed.

Full Review Source: New York Theatre Wire | comment 1 Comment
08/06/06
Brandon Judell
Brandon Judell
New York Theatre Wire

Lies, damn lies and statistics. It's pure propaganda.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment 2 Comments
08/05/06
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
08/05/06
Jonathan W. Hickman
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders

This movie is so humorless that it makes you wax nostalgic for the good old days when Michael Moore was sticking it to the man.

Full Review Source: Cinemania | comment Comment
08/04/06
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
Cinemania

Russo is a clearly a healthy minded skeptic who tries to get both sides of the story.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/28/06
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Filmmaking lapses aside, this is an impassioned and generally persuasive film that rings all too eerily true.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
07/28/06
Timothy Knight
Timothy Knight
Reel.com

The mess we're in never looked so messy.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
07/28/06
Nathan Lee
Nathan Lee
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
See All

More DVDs

Close
Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
77% 77% The Hangover
88% 88% Inglourious Basterds
66% 66% Public Enemies
24% 24% G-Force
44% 44% Night at the Museum: B…

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
90% 90% District 9
86% 86% 500 Days of Summer
63% 63% Extract
06% 06% All About Steve
78% 78% It Might Get Loud

More New Releases…

See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Best of the Decade

Best of the Decade

Find out what movies made our list!

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2

Watch the brand new trailer now!

Clash of the Titans

Clash of the Titans

Prepare to Clash with Titans in this trailer!

Total Recall

Total Recall

RT looks back on Jude Law's best movies!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
66
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
22
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
1
  • How Avatar Happened: The Path to Innovation Source: CinemaBlend.com
19
  • Rob Marshall Says Pirates 4 Is Still a Maybe Source: ComingSoon.net
32
  • ET Teases Iron Man 2 Teaser Source: Collider.com
28
  • Tobey Maguire Refutes Hobbit Rumors Source: Hollywood Reporter
9
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar Soars to #1 Spot
261
  • RT's Best of the Decade!
153
  • Brittany Murphy: 1977-2009
115
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
69
  • Total Recall: Jude Law's Best Movies
56
  • Critics Consensus: Sherlock Holmes Is Worth Investigating
33
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: District 9 and (500) Days of Summer
32
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
22
  • Friday Harvest: Sherlock Holmes, Toy Story 3, and more!
10
  • What We're Watching on Blu-ray from Disney!
9
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
69
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • America: Freedom To Fascism at Rotten Tomatoes
  • America: Freedom To Fascism at AskMen

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade
Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Top 50 of 2009
Top 50 of 2009 External Link

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Santa's Naughty List
Santa's Naughty List External Link

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.