Abacus: Small Enough to Jail

As gripping as the movie is as a legal thriller, it's even more notable as a portrait of a community.

By focusing on the Sungs, [James] puts real, human faces to this corporation, leaving little doubt they’re the ones to root for.

Much of the film’s appeal is from the quiet determination of the patriarch Sung, unflappable under the stress, and the family and community who rally around him.

The film’s director, who would make an excellent character witness for the defence, raises the questions but frustratingly doesn’t answer them in an otherwise compelling documentary.

It’s a kind of stealth home movie: a portrait of two generations of an immigrant family in the United States.

Steve James is clearly positioning the film as a rallying cry, and its weaknesses as art might bolster its strength as reformatory theater.

As for what all of this represents, Small Enough To Jail doesn’t draw any conclusions that its many interviewees aren’t willing to voice themselves.