9 Movies That Helped Solve Real Life Crimes
7. Inside Job (2010)
Inside Job is a documentary covering the late-2000s financial crisis. It was instrumental in highlighting several corrupt business practices and policies at Columbia Business School that directly affected the U.S. economy and others overseas. Before the movie, the school was exempt from disclosing consulting deals — even toxic ones.
The film explores the changes made in the policy environment, as well as banking practices that gave rise to the financial crisis. At its core, the documentary is about "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption."
In terms of the documentary's standing as a film, it was widely regarded as a critical success. Roger Ebert described it as "an angry, well-argued documentary about how the American housing industry set out deliberately to defraud the ordinary American investor," and it won several prominent awards, including the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
The movie's effect in helping to solve a crime stems from shining a light on the corruption and toxic business practices that resulted in the financial crisis. Because of this, the movie effectively forced Columbia to disclose all of its deals, no matter how bad they might be for business.