Hard Times: Lost on Long Island (2012) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Very good documentary from HBO taking a look at a group of people who are unemployed and have very little hope going forward. We follow these people as they look for work, fear losing their homes and wonder where the American dream went. I work with unemployed people so I am quite familiar with the stories being told here and I think for the most part the film does a very good job showing how tough it is out there. I guess you could say that the documentary could have covered someone who was making less than $20,000 a year and really had some major issues but that's only a small thing. For the most part the film really showed what it's like being unemployed and while no one ever really knows what it's like until they're the ones with a house payment coming up and can't pay it, the film does a good job at putting you in these people's shoes just to see what it's like. The documentary also digs in to how severe the entire situation is throughout the country and why things really don't seem to be getting any better and especially since we can't help some of these people because various politicians would rather argue than actually get something done.

HBO once again does it this doc "Lost on Long Island", Hard Times captures the real time life and day to day struggles of people who have been out of work for over a year and have or almost lost it all! Watching this you will feel the emotional impact and sorrow of these people it's a heartfelt and touching doc. The film has focus on citizens of Long Island, NY as once working class it proves with job losses that one by one the American Dream is slipping away sadly.Showcased is how couples that were laid off at the start of the 2008 recession deal with getting behind on their mortgage payments and struggle to put food on the table. As many six figure salary company people have lost their jobs and the struggle to find work is a long hard process because of the slow job market and the people's age. And as the film states the longer that one goes without work the harder it becomes to get a job. It proves never take anything for granted once gone it may not return.The losses take emotional and physical tolls on everyone it's sad to see that life has to be that way for unemployed people this doc is touching and emotionally eye opening as you feel sorrow for the people showcased. As it's so true the good old working days of the middle class is pretty much gone and a dead class, still big thumbs up to HBO for making such an eye opening doc.

This is an excellent documentary concerning the human and economic factors affecting a segment of Long Island people during our current recession.You have to wonder if President Obama and Gov. Romney were listening to the stories of the affected citizens.We're dealing with professionals who thought they had captured the American dream. This documentary not only focuses on their economic woes of being unemployed, it also centers on the emotional and psychological problems brought about continuous unemployment.How do you deal with family and friends under these adverse conditions? The common statement that people know what they're going through is so wrong. One has to live it to see what these people, many of whom were well educated and successful, have apparently fallen through the cracks. The documentary emphasizes that the longer one remains unemployed, the less likely that they'll join the ranks of the employed.

I got to see this last night & it's a pretty sad documentary on the the bad economic period of 2008. All though it last till 2009 still there were folks that were unemployed especially the folks who lived the American Dream which they were brought up in. It's pretty tough to see the despair the folks go through everyday trying to look for jobs while their homes are about to be for-closed as well staying positive that things will turn around. This film is a must see for everyone cause these kind of things can happen to good people who did things by the book that made them who they are as human beings. I was very glad to watch this film and I sincerely hope others will watch too.