(Sun 2nd Dec / 8pm / £5/4)
(Lauren Greenfield / 2012 / USA / 100 minutes / certificate PG)

David and Jackie Siegel are your ideal car-crash documentary subjects: tasteless, pampered billionaires in the process of building a cosy little Florida nest...modelled on Versailles.

When the US economy takes a turn for worst, the construction of the Siegel’s 90,000 sq ft home comes to an abrupt halt. Sacrifices must be made, but the audience’s Schadenfreude is restricted by the impact that their reduced income ultimately has on their staff, their pets, and their eight children. Former beauty queen Jackie generously continues to share her life with the filmmaker as she learns to come to terms with a less decadent lifestyle. She is garish but not quite grotesque. The same cannot be said for her husband David, an egotistic Republican who brags that he was “personally responsible” for George W. Bush’s presidential victory.

This is a revealing, horrifyingly enjoyable, documentary that demands both disgust and empathy. Bring a stiff drink and your high horse.

Trailer: http://vimeo.com/46877141