DROP DEAD CITY – Review by Diane Carson
Some documentaries contribute an expansive survey of an issue or topic; some explore one subject more intensively, analyzing in depth. That latter choice guides Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn’s Drop Dead City.
‘Drop Dead City’ Review: A Gripping Look at How New York City Almost Went Bankrupt in 1975, Foreshadowing the Current Moment
VARIETY: “Drop Dead City” falls into a category of documentary I think of as wonkish but gripping. Produced and directed by Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn, the film is about the financial cataclysm that hit New York City in 1975, when the powers that be figured out that the city was $6 billion in debt.
“Drop Dead City” Spotlights a Lost Era of Liberal Government
THE NEW YORKER: The delight of “Drop Dead City” is that it’s a symphony of voices, past and present. The film’s interviews mesh, even rhyme, with archival clips documenting events as they unfolded, participants discussing their activities in the moment, and news reports that aired at the time.
‘Drop Dead City’: When New York Was on the Financial Brink
THE NEW YORK TIMES: This surprisingly entertaining film examines the 1975 fiscal crisis that nearly led the city to bankruptcy. The movie’s conclusions remain relevant today.
The Vanishing Mr. Beame
THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS: With absorbing footage of gutted apartment buildings and ravaged storefronts, Drop Dead City anatomizes the drama of New York’s descent into near bankruptcy.
WHEN THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS GOT A WAKE-UP CALL
Drop Dead City is that rare beast: a documentary that turns a major city’s fiscal crisis into an edge-of-your-seat thriller. There’s a strong parallel to what’s happening in our economic and political times today, nationally and locally.
Drop dead again? New film finds NYC’s 1975 fiscal crisis still haunting the city today.
GOTHAMIST: The mayor of New York City is widely seen as incompetent. Inflation is near record highs as the wider economy slows, subway ridership is down while the MTA faces a growing budget gap, and the White House is threatening to pull the city’s federal funding over political disagreements.
DOC NYC : ‘Drop Dead City’ Focuses on New York’s Fiscal Crisis of 1975
Cinema Daily: Who knew that a film about accountants, bureaucrats, and municipal bond offerings could ever be interesting, let alone downright enjoyable? After all, hasn’t economics often been referred to as the “dismal science”?
Movies Can Take New Yorkers Back to the ’70s. But Why Go There?
The agony of the subways also has more than a few New Yorkers worrying that they’ve begun an inexorable descent, maybe even back to the 1970s, when the city endured what could reasonably be described as a near-death experience.