You gotta love a good documentary. They’re entertaining, intriguing and educational. With the economy being on everyone’s mind for the past 10 years or so, The Queen of Versailles is an interesting look from the other side of the fence, the uber wealthy.

The filmmakers started following David and Jaqueline Siegel before the 2008 economic collapse. They are extremely wealthy. Twenty bathrooms in your house wealthy. David started Westgate time shares many years ago building a empire of 28 resorts around the country and a massive casino/hotel in Vegas. They live extravagantly and even with a 25.000+ square foot mansion, they need more space. They employ 19 people just for the house, they have 7 children under the age of 12 (and one who is a bit older, who they adopt from Jackie’s sister). They start to build Versailles, they 90,000 square foot dream home in Orlando.

Then the housing market and economy collapses in 2008. The Siegel’s get cut off at the knees.

It’s a fascinating look at what the US is now built on. It’s really easy to think these two are terrible people, they’re wealth is the kind that most people can’t even dream of. The can get any thing and everything they could ever want. They have deep social and political connections. It’s easy to be envious of what they have. But this docu does a really good job of showing both sides of the story. They’re both people. David worked and works his ass off for what he has. He never stops working. Jackie is a sympathetic person and she has her flaws. Westgate employs thousands of people, what David does, in fact helps people. But on the other side you see how crazy they live and view the world.

The filmmakers re-balance the scales in every scene. They show the humanity and then show the dirt. You feel disgusted by them, then you feel empathy. Two really good examples. David works hard as hell, no doubt. He does earn his money. He figured out how to work the system. But then the guy talks about how he helped George W Bush get elected in 2001. When asked how he did it, he says “I don’t want to say….it might not exactly be legal.” Another one is when they talk to the kids. The adopted girl came from an abusive and very poor family. She compares her life of being dirt poor and her new life of luxury. She talks about trying to stay grounded, think about where she came from and how she dreamed of being rich. “I thought if I was ever rich, I’d wake up with a smile everyday. Now, I’m just used to it.” All the kids are, they’re used to it, they don’t know anything else. Jackie is far and away the worst, a gleeful compulsive shopper. Buying stuff is what she loves to do. She talks about alligator shoes and ostrich feather pants that cost 10 grand, laughs when she said she spent a million dollars a year on just…stuff.

But it could happen to you, which is the main point. When you become successful, your lifestyle and expectations change. It’s human nature. Sitting there saying it would never happen to you, that you would never change is a lie. You wouldn’t be aware it was happening to you. Even with all that money, they’re just people. The Siegel fortune was made solely on credit. No one paid for his business in cash. He got huge, cheap loans to build his resorts. When it all collapsed, the banks turned on David just like they did on everyone else. And he made them millions, if not billions. The banks hounding him to sell everything, refusing to give him extensions or the chance to make a deal. They just wanted to take the real estate from him. Their dream house lays half way finished (it is SO obnoxious, it’s hilarious) after putting $75 million into it. It goes into foreclosure (it’s a tough sell, the amount of people that can afford it is really minuscule, the location makes it an even harder sell).

Fascinating story watching this wealthy family have to adapt to lifestyle changes and stress they never saw coming. It’s enraging, it’s sad and funny. One of the best documentaries I’ve seen in awhile.

The Bourne Legacy is the fourth movie in the Jason Bourne espionage franchise. Big changes were made as Matt Damon bowed out of the series with director Paul Greengrass. It’s been 10 years since the first movie and 5 since the last. With the big cast change, Jeremy Renner plays Aaron Cross, another participant in the deep dark recesses of the Tredstone operation. “Jason wasn’t the only one” is the push here.

There was a lot of trepidation of how this movie would be, but I gotta say it fits and works really well. That is all thanks to writer Tony Gilroy who has been a part of every movie. He knows the characters and world better than anyone and he continues the action and intrigue without missing a beat. He also directs and does a good job of it.

I really like Jeremy Renner and he did well in this role. With Jason blowing cover for his bosses (the beginning of Legacy takes place when Ultimatum is happening), a slash and burn protocol is put into action to scrub all traces of the spy program. Investigations are inevitable and those in charge scramble to protect their asses. Aaron is a bit more special than Jason. While the previous movies were about a super spy remembering who he is, why and for who, Aaron knows he’s in the program. He takes medication that’s given to him, but he’s not entirely in the loop. Following the tag team nature of the previous movies, Rachel Weisz plays Dr. Marta Shearing who also works for the program and is also thrown out with the government bathwater. She knows all about the drugs Aaron was taking and helps him fight back.

Legacy in not only a solid action film, it’s a solid entry to the series. It looks and sounds like a Bourne movie, the action sections are really cool, the suspense and sneakiness is there and at the end of the two hours, I wanted more. That’s always a good sign for me.