Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

soadhead88 I'm primarily writing this review in response to "Totally Biased Anti War on Drugs Film" review. It is a great film that argues for a change in US drug policy because it has not only failed to control drug abuse, but has made things worse for the drug users and their families than drugs would have alone.To rebut the above mentioned review, I would like to point out two things. There were no made up facts. First of all, the third offense was not a "traffic offense". It was a drug trafficking offense that will result in a life sentence. Second of all, civil forfeiture laws do allow the seizure of property without a criminal charge. If you can prove that the property that was seized was not involved in any type of criminal activity then you have to pay for you own attorney in a legal fight. Whether or not the state will pay your legal fees in the case that you win depends on the judge's ruling."The government simply files a civil action in rem against the property itself, and then generally must prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the property is forfeitable under the applicable forfeiture statute. Civil forfeiture is independent of any criminal case, and because of this, the forfeiture action may be filed before indictment, after indictment, or even if there is no indictment. Likewise, civil forfeiture may be sought in cases in which the owner is criminally acquitted of the underlying crimes..."—Craig Gaumer, Assistant United States Attorney, 2007

peacecreep Eugene Jarecki's frightening and important film is a thorough investigation of the prison industrial complex and the "war on drugs" i.e. the war on poor people. It's a fair and balanced look at how it subsidizes thousands of jobs and locks up millions of innocent people. Unfortunately he misses a key argument against this war: adults should have the right to sovereignty over their consciousness. Drugs are slightly demonized throughout- the fact that the drugs themselves are inherently good- its people with no self control that give them a bad name- is never explored. Regardless, this is a fascinating look into a sick society in a dead and deadening country. Recommended.

Danny Blankenship No matter what side of the drug war your on even if you want legalization or the total ban of all drugs, one thing for sure it's an interesting and tough topic that splits many. "The House I Live In" the eye opening new documentary from Eugene Jarecki looks at the many sides of U.S. drug policy and how it interacts and feeds off one another from the street dealer to the narcotics officer to the inmate and federal judge. It's true that the use of illegal drugs has destroyed many countless lives, yet still the media, and political people have overblown the drug problem into a money making business. Making the jobs of law enforcement employees very hard as much of their focus is now on fighting drugs instead of trying to solve more important crimes like murder. And the lock up rate has grown crazy as the U.S. now has 25% of the world's prison population. It's an easy game lock up someone quick and easy for a drug possession crime and spend more tax payer money build more prisons and more lock ups as prison and crime is now a money making machine that makes a job for someone. As evidenced from the correctional officer that was interviewed during this doc.Even more revealing is how Eugene Jarecki examines the history of drugs and how it's always been more the case that the poor and those that are black will be arrested for drug crimes. It's clear that many that live in a race and culture of downtrodden ridden history and black have simply became a statistical number for law enforcement to arrest. All while politicians on both side profit and get fat from fighting the drug war. Clearly they don't understand they need to stop locking people up for small drug offenses to save prison space for more serious criminals. Overall good doc that questions the way we are handling business in fighting the drug war it's educational and thought provoking no matter what your stance on the drug policy is.

kmartin108 This is a compelling documentary. Please see it. The drug war that results in mass incarceration is probably the most critical emerging issue of our time. If you care about humanity, and if you care about the economics of our country, then go see this film.The filmmakers seamlessly describe the complexities that underly the drug war and mass incarceration. Then they show the devastating unintended consequences of this misguided policy approach. Finally, they raise important questions that will help to craft a new way forward.I am going to do my part to get as many people that I can to see this film. I'm posting it on Facebook, I'm writing reviews, and I'm telling people about it in my capacity as a trainer in child welfare. The filmmakers deserve a huge thank you for calling out the ugly truth of the drug war in a way that we can understand it, and do something about it.