All About the Money review – confusion and compelling weirdness of wealthy leftwing heir
This profile of James ‘Fergie’ Chambers, who set up a commune in rural Massachusetts and is fighting extradition from Spain, is a brave attempt to package a complex character and story For a film that dispenses a lot of backstory information via intertitles, you are left with a lot of questions when the credits finally roll. For example, how in the world did Irish film-maker Sinéad O’Shea gain access to her main…
Key points
- Sinéad O'Shea's documentary profiles James 'Fergie' Chambers, an American heir who funded a small communist community in Alford, Massachusetts.
- Several community members were arrested after a protest at Elbit Systems, an Israeli-owned arms manufacturer, and Chambers left for Tunisia.
- Spain is seeking Chambers's extradition to the US over his alleged support for Hamas.
All About the Money, a documentary by Irish film-maker Sinéad O'Shea, profiles James Cox Chambers, known as Fergie, an American heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune. The film follows him as the founding member and funder of a communist community of fewer than a dozen people in Alford, a town in rural Massachusetts.
Fergie, a member of the wealthy Cox family that has backed leftist causes, puts his inheritance of about $250m toward the group's learning, self-sustaining farm work and a jujitsu studio and gym that does not accept police officers as members.
Arrests after arms maker protest
The group decided to protest at Elbit Systems, an Israeli-owned arms manufacturer. According to reports, its actions became "criminal mischief and criminal trespassing", and several Alford members were arrested, including Paige Belanger.
Chambers paid for Belanger's defence and covered other costs from the action, but considerable rancour rose between him, Belanger and other former community members. The film cuts between interviews with the communards and with Chambers, who had left for Tunisia.
criminal mischief and trespassing
— reports cited in the film
A muddled but compelling portrait
The review says O'Shea's effort to avoid taking sides leaves the story's centre unclear, so it is hard to tell who or what the film is really about. The result is a messy tangle of historical fact, colourful personalities and dramatic biographies.
Chambers, whose extradition to the US from Spain is being sought over his alleged support for Hamas, emerges as a compellingly weird figure. The review describes him as a confused soul who uses tattoos, discourse and delusions to hide pain from a traumatic adolescence.
