Playing With FIRE Film: A Critical Review
Yesterday I went to see the film Playing With Fire with a bunch of friends.
While I thought the movie was good, I was also a little disappointed.
Background
Before I get into the review, I want to provide a little background.
The movie showing was part of an event hosted by our local San Diego ChooseFI Facebook group. I’m not an active participant in the group, but one of my friends is. This friend invited me and a few other finance-oriented friends to come along for the event. One of these friends is Michael from Financially Alert.
After hearing about the making of the movie in last year’s FinCon18, I was interested enough to want to watch it. I also invited a few of my work colleagues because it seemed like it could be a fun night out.
And it was.
Playing With FIRE Synopsis
I’m going to try to keep this synopsis brief.
WARNING: Spoiler alert. I have included a lot of details from the movie that could spoil it for those who haven’t seen it yet. Please consider skipping over to review or final thoughts.
Starring in the movie is Scott and Taylor Rieckens. They are a young couple with a young daughter named Jovie who live in San Diego, California. (Sounds like my family of three. I can relate!)
After hearing Mr. Money Mustache on the Tim Ferriss show, Scott catches the FIRE bug. He then engrosses himself in the FIRE movement by reading all of the major FIRE blogs.
With the realization that they could possibly FIRE too, Scott begins to re-evaluate his life. He asks his wife Taylor to write 10 things that make her happy. The list includes things like “spending time with my daughter” and “taking a walk in the park”. Things like that. Nothing too extravagant. They realize that none of those items include “going to the beach” or “living in San Diego”. This gives Scott enough fire power to persuade Taylor that they should dive head first into the FIRE lifestyle.
Taylor is uneasy about it but goes along anyway. The couple talk to Brandon of Mad FIentist and they go over some numbers like the “4% rule” and being able to live off of 25x living expenses indefinitely. The usual FIRE principles. Taylor is still somewhat skeptical and Scott continues to be fired up.
FIRE Starter
Scott fully commits to FIRE and quits his job. There’s no turning back now. They move out of their place in Coronado / San Diego.
As a safety net, Taylor is able to work remotely from home, wherever that may be.
They then travel up to Whidbey Island, Washington where Vicki Robin (of Your Money or Your Life fame) lives. She is one of the pioneers of FIRE as she reportedly retired at 26 and now lives in a huge mansion in the woods. They chat about living a simple life, trading time for money, and shortening mandatory working years toward retirement.
They go on to meet other prominent members of the FIRE community including Mr. Money Mustache, Jonathan and Brad of Choose FI, JD Roth, and JL Collins just to name a few.
Scott and Taylor struggle to find a decent place to live that fits both their needs and their budget at the same time. They end up going to Bellevue, Iowa to live with Scott’s parents. Scott sees the positives of living with his folks: saving money and being close to his mom and dad.
Meanwhile, Taylor sees a bunch of negatives including a lack of personal space being with her in-laws 24/7. Additionally, she misses her friends, her nice car (a BMW), and the life she had in San Diego. She is clearly uncomfortable and stressed out. At one point she says something to the effect of: “We’re supposed to find happiness down the road, but trying to find happiness now is really hard.”
On the other hand, Scott’s experience is completely different. He reconnects with his childhood in Iowa and reflects how he was raised by frugal parents. It’s evident that he feels “at home” and comfortable.
The dichotomy between the two is stark and continues throughout most of the movie.
Keep The FIRE Burning
After moving out of Iowa, the family settle in Bend, Oregon. They find a place to rent. Scott buys a bike and rides it through the snow to get groceries, flexing his frugality muscles a la MMM. It looks like he is enjoying his new Mustachian lifestyle. Either that or he is sucking it up and putting on a happy face.
Again, Taylor is clearly not enjoying any of it. There’s a scene of her driving through the snow in a used Honda CRV reacting to her current life: “It’s fine. It’s fine!” She’s practically in tears when she says this. When someone says “they’re fine”, usually they are not. This is clearly the case with Taylor. She even says something to the effect of: “I’m usually a happy person, but I’m feeling depressed. We’re achieving this goal but I feel like crap.”
Scott at least has the insight to realize that Taylor is not happy. In a video selfie monologue, he admits that Taylor is the breadwinner throughout their FIRE journey and that he doesn’t have a job. He expresses concern about their marriage. While Scott still feels gung ho about their FIRE journey, he admits it’s tough and much harder than he anticipated.
Water and Playing With FIRE Don’t Mix
With all of these hardships, Scott and Taylor move out of Oregon for a change in scenery. They get a good deal by house sitting a friend’s house in Kauai, Hawaii.
It’s paradise. And while the general cost of living is expensive, they are living on relatively cheap rent.
Unfortunately this doesn’t last.
A brutal hurricane devastates the island of Kauai and the town that they live in is completely flooded.
The flood puts another damper on their FIRE plans and ultimately they move on.
Back to the Pacific Northwest
They go back to Washington to attend a Camp Mustache event. There they meet a bunch of like-minded people. Obviously all mustachians and FIRE types.
Eventually, they come to the decision of buying a house in Bend, Oregon. The house is still on the expensive side but it was a price they were willing to accept.
The family settles into their new home and community. One of the last scenes is of Taylor and their daughter Jodie happily dancing in their new home.
It’s now a year after their whole FIRE journey started. Based on their living expenses and savings rate, they report cutting their mandatory working years to only 10 more years.
In their final on-camera interview, Taylor appears happy and says that the experience was transformational and that she has no regrets.
Review of Playing With FIRE
Okay, now for the review.
Let’s start with the good.
The Good
Overall, the cinematography of Playing With FIRE was pretty good. There are beautiful scenes including shots of San Diego bay during sunset. Scenes of the lush and forested Pacific Northwest were also gorgeous.
Production quality was excellent. You can tell that the director and post-production team did a great job of editing. It had the look and finish of a real Hollywood production
Also, it was cool that the movie featured a good variety of folks from the FIRE community. Off the top of my head, this included: Vicki Robin, Mr. Money Mustache, Brandon of Mad FIentist, Jonathan and Brad of Choose FI, Paula Pant, JL Collins, Mr. 1500, JD Roth, Tanja Hester of Our Next Life, Rich and Regular, Millennial Revolution, and Frugalwoods. All of these folks gave their spiel on financial independence in clear, actionable sound bites. Seeing many of the FIRE pioneers and luminaries in one screen was pretty awesome.
It is important to note that the movie features a diverse cast of FIRE bloggers. One negative stereotype of the FIRE movement is that it is full of privileged white males who are software engineers (or some other high income profession). The inclusion of Tanja Hester, Paula Pant, Rich and Regular, and Millennial Revolution, and Frugalwoods shatters this stereotype. Bravo for diversity!
If anything, the movie is an excellent introduction to FIRE. For people new to the concept of FIRE, you would totally get the gist of FIRE principles by watching the movie.
Principles that were brought up include:
- People nowadays work more, spend more, live in bigger houses, but are not happier.
- So many people are in debt because of mindless consumerism.
- The shockingly simple math behind early retirement is that if you increase your savings rate, you can retire sooner. For example, a savings rate of 50% reduces your mandatory working years to only 17.
- Savings should go into low cost total stock market index funds, like Vanguard VTSAX.
- Accumulating more than 25x your living expenses allows you to sustain your lifestyle indefinitely (with high probability). This is the point at which financial independence is reached.
- Once FI, you can pursue things that make you happier.
That’s pretty much the gist of it.
Interestingly, Playing With FIRE also featured Joshua and Ryan, from The Minimalists. I thought this was a neat inclusion because they are the only featured guests who aren’t “FIRE bloggers”. They mostly write about minimalism, essentialism, and getting rid of excess consumerism and stuff to live a happier life.
Another positive of the movie is the characters. Scott and Taylor seem genuine and very likable. They are very sympathetic characters, especially Taylor. When she expressed sadness and depression, I really felt for her. When you see them go through the ups and downs of their journey, you really want to root for them to succeed.
Finally, the movie has a decent pace to it too. Unlike other documentaries I’ve seen, I never felt the urge to fall asleep.
The Meh
To be honest, I don’t think the movie had anything very negative. Don’t get me wrong, it was not a bad movie at all.
But this is a review, so I have to include the parts that I didn’t like as much. The following are aspects that I thought were kind of meh.
First of all, Playing With FIRE was not life-changing for me. As someone who is extremely familiar with the FIRE movement, I already knew all of the principles that were discussed. A vast majority of the audience in attendance was from the local ChooseFI Facebook group. I’m sure they knew everything too! In that respect, it felt like the movie was just preaching to the choir. Because I didn’t learn anything new, I left slightly unimpressed.
I tried to imagine myself as an outsider of the FIRE movement. What would have I thought about the movie as an outsider? Sure, I think it was a great introduction to FIRE and FI principles. But would it have inspired me to pursue the path to FIRE? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps I would have been intrigued by all the FIRE bloggers and be inspired to read their blogs and books. I can’t say for sure.
One of the goals of Playing With FIRE is to spread the message of FIRE to a broader audience. It’s hard to gauge how much of this goal will be accomplished until it is released to the general public.
An Outsider’s Perspective
Some of my friends and colleagues in attendance are not as privy to the FIRE movement. They are outsiders. So I asked them what they thought of the movie. A few of my friends liked the movie. But one of my friends was extremely disappointed and didn’t like the movie at all. He basically said that Scott is a loser who quit his job and dragged his wife into a lifestyle of deprivation that she didn’t want. Ouch. That’s pretty harsh. He was obviously not inspired by the movie, which I found disappointing. The thing is, frugality and FIRE are not everyone’s cup of tea. And for that reason, the movie may not be for everyone.
The way the movie is portrayed, I can kind of see my friend’s point though. I would not want to subject my wife to a lifestyle that stresses her out and makes her depressed. Even if it’s temporary. Risking my marriage over FIRE plans that may or may not pan out is just not worth it. Luckily for Scott and Taylor, things worked out. And luckily for Scott, Taylor is a very understanding and forgiving spouse. When one partner is totally all in and the other isn’t quite on the same page, I could see this as a recipe for disaster. Marriages fall apart due to money and lifestyle conflicts like this.
The movie does a good job of showing the potential struggles as well as the ups and downs that people could experience on their FIRE journey. And everybody’s journey is unique and different. A part of me wonders how what kind of impact the movie’s portrayal of frugality and FIRE will have on the broader audience. It’s possible that many people will be like my friend and completely turned off by the whole idea. We will have to wait and see.
Things That Could Have Been Better
Throughout the entire movie, the dichotomy between Scott and Taylor is so apparent. He’s gung ho and excited about FIRE. She’s stressed out and depressed. Then all of a sudden in the end, she’s really happy with her life. Her complete 180 turn around just seemed so abrupt to me. I wish there was more insight with respect to her shift in mindset.
I would have liked the movie to focus a little bit less on their struggles and a bit more on how the FIRE lifestyle makes them happier. If it did that, I think Playing With FIRE would have been a bit more inspiring. But this is just my opinion.
While the soundbites from all of the pioneer FIRE bloggers were clear and actionable, I think it could have been a little more cohesive with a better unifying message. But that’s just nitpicking.
One thing I found bit annoying was the frequent blurbs sprinkled throughout the movie that included text such as “Current savings rate: 50%, Years of mandatory work until retirement: 17”. These numbers changed with each location they moved to. In my opinion, including these numbers throughout the movie was a bit excessive and unnecessary. Who really cares if their savings rate in Kauai dropped to 30% (or whatever it was). I don’t. The numbers don’t really matter unless there is context to go along with them. What was their income for that time period? How much were their living expenses? What exactly did they spend on? Because there was no context, these numbers were meaningless to me.
Final Thoughts
All in all I had a great time. The movie was good and I had great company to enjoy it with. Before the movie, we had appetizers and drinks. Then afterwards we hung out in a local bar. Good times!
Having relatively high expectations, I thought Playing With FIRE was good but somewhat disappointing. It was great to see the pioneers of FIRE all on the same screen in a high quality production, but the movie was not life-changing to me.
Everybody has a unique story to tell. And it’s incredibly difficult to cover everything in a single 90 minute documentary. At the end of the movie, Scott and Taylor finally find a place (physically and mentally) where they are both happy. Their story is only beginning and they are not yet FIRE. Because of this, there are so many unanswered questions which leaves me feeling somewhat unfulfilled.
It would be nice to follow up with Scott and Taylor some time later. I’m interested to see where their FIRE journey takes them. Will they find their “why”, discover their life purpose, and achieve sustained happiness? I certainly hope so.
We should all be pulling for Scott and Taylor to succeed. So much of the world is struggling to find a sense of happiness and financial wellbeing; it’s important to support each other because we are all in this together.
Sure, the movie wasn’t life-changing to me and it may not be for everyone. But hopefully the movie will be inspiring to many others who feel stuck in their path to financial independence.
All you need is a spark to start a fire.
Before he set out on his FIRE journey, listening Mr. Money Mustache on the Tim Ferriss Show was the catalytic spark that started Scott’s fire into a raging inferno on the path to FIRE.
In the same way, Playing With FIRE might be the initial spark that can change many people’s lives.
The movie surely marks the peak of the ‘movement.’
Definitely agree!
Excellent review DMF. I felt like I got the entire gist of the movie without seeing it myself.
Well it looks like the movie is a huge let down because when I saw the preview I was excited to watch it, now not so much. Will add it to my Netflix cue and not waste money for a ticket.
Is Scott and Taylor a real life couple or was this actor portrayals?
I’m sure a lot of time and money went into producing this film. Hopefully it did not backFIRE on them and drop them out of FIRE because of it.
Scott and Taylor are definitely a real life couple. Not actor portrayals. I was actually impressed by their screen presence despite presumably no acting experience.
I could tell a decent amount of money was put into it. The production was quite good. The director Travis Shakespeare is no slouch either. He is critically acclaimed, won an Emmy, and happens to be a descendant of William’s brother (yes, that William). They had a good Kickstarter campaign so I’m sure it didn’t foul up their FIRE plans.
The movie is good and fine. Just don’t have super high expectations. The story-telling is good and it’s fun to see the FIRE pioneers on screen, but don’t expect to learn something new or be inspired by some life-changing revelation 😀
I hated this movie. Guy moves himself wife and kid, from his 1.4M beach community crib with 2 luxury cars and a membership in a boat club complete with boat after a crisis in faith about his “life”. He goes to live on his wife’s parents couch for a few months and finally moves to his parents couch for the rest of the year. The wife who was sold the line “you get to spend time with the baby” spends all her time telecommuting. Essentially this guys puts his wife out as bread winner while he tries to figure himself out. In the mean time he’s eating Daddy’s groceries and Grandma is baby sitting. The guy’s a film maker so he gets the bright idea to do a film about FIRE and starts flying all over hells half acre shooting cameos of famous FIRE types at various conferences and at some of their houses.
Soon enough he wears out his welcome at Daddy’s and moves to Bend OR and buys a 400K dinky condo, still he has no job and the wife is still pulling their financial train. His big claim to fame is saving like 12K in an EMERGENCY FUND and investing 3K in VTSAX because JL Collins told him to. Near as I can see this movie is a cross between time share sales and MLM like AMWAY without the steak dinner. There is nothing about this film that is realistic. It’s hard sell all the time. I don’t know how Vicki Robbin retired at 26 and has a multi-million dollar estate on an island in WA state unless she won the lotto, OR has a JOB which of course means she isn’t retired but self employed in media and promotion. No beef about that, it’s just dishonest to keep flashing “retired at 26” on the screen when she isn’t yet retired at 74. Anyone can do what they want but that is a bait and switch pure and simple.
The film maker got a shot of MMM (another mogul who doesn’t practice what he preaches) riding his bike, and dutifully buys his own bike to go buy the fixins to make 100 breakfast burritos at the local piggly wiggly, oh so frugal. Just feeeze the lil suckers and you have cheap breaky for months! In the mean time the wife continues to slave away day in day out.
What is clear is this movie is not about FIRE. It’s about this joker trying to pad his FIRE bank account, and create FIRE credentials where none existed. He’s one of the most clueless and disingenuous “experts” I’ve yet to see on the horizon. The FIRE community and especially potential FIRE community, deserves an honest treatment of the FIRE philosophy not this crap. FIRE is serious. Your families future depends on you getting it right. This movie treats it about as seriously as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Hot and cold running delusion.
My showing of the film was filled with college kids trying to figure out how to retire by 26. They walked away with no reliable information, $15 poorer. Shoulda bought a bogglehead book at least that is credible. I gotta admit however this guy’s kid was absolutely adorable.
Thanks for putting in your two cents, Gasem. I always appreciate your comments and value your opinions. Now, I wouldn’t go as far as saying I hated the movie. I actually liked it and it was a good experience. Your assessment is fair and I agree with some of your points, especially the last one. Their daughter is adorable! 🙂
I don’t mean to sound too negative. Taylor is on Doc G’s podcast this week. As I recall she’s in her mid to late 30’s in the movie. Her kid is probably 4-5 now. Her expected retirement is in 10 years. SHE WORKS FULL TIME. So in 10 years she’ll be say 45-47. Her kid will be 15. From the movie it was unclear they had any college savings yet. No college savings means she’s working to 50+ How does this mesh with her desire to spend time with her kid as a driver for FIRE? This is NOT retired at 26 by any stretch. I’m not saying right sizing your life is not important. It’s critical to success. I am saying the movie as presented is bait and switch. Interesting how Taylor and her husband are now considered FIRE experts.
Yeah, I can’t wait to hear from Taylor in Doc G’s podcast. I really want to know more insight from her perspective. The movie presented her as stressed out and depressed from beginning to the near end. Then all of a sudden at the conclusion of the movie she’s happy and says everything is worth it. I’m not questioning the authenticity of her thoughts and feelings, it just felt so abrupt to me with no further insight or explanation.
She’s still in therapy and could not stand the hoo rah of marine corps quality fanatical FIRE.
This is not critical of her. This is America and you get to live how you like, but it is an indictment of the films premise. If you ramrod the system and your wife ends up in therapy you ain’t doing it right. My wish is they make it, but not at the expense of sending others down the primrose path.
Thanks for the straightforward write-up. I haven’t seen it yet. I was definitely skeptical but it is still on my list to check it out. I was certainly thinking (as you said) that if you already have a decent understanding of the fundamentals it would be difficult to pick anything new up. Hopefully, nobody gets lured in without a solid understanding of the full philosophy and mistakenly give up and sell in the next downturn.
Max
Thanks for the comment, Max. Yeah, while you likely won’t learn anything new, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it like I did. Even though I think the movie has its faults, it’s still an fairly interesting story and it’s pretty cool to see all the major FIRE luminaries all on the same screen.
And you’re right. Hopefully nobody makes the mistake of selling in the next downturn. I’m pretty sure people watching the movie won’t make that mistake. One great thing the movie did is present FIRE principles in a way that was clear, concise, and easily digestible.
Thanks for the review. I haven’t seen it, but an outsider friend saw it.
We didn’t talk about it much. Basically, she said they were too young. She wasn’t impressed.
However, she told her friend about my blog so maybe I got another reader. 🙂
I really hope it works out for the couple. I wouldn’t risk my marriage for FIRE either.
But it really takes time to see if it would work out. My wife didn’t like the concept for a few years.
She has a better opinion now because it’s working very well.
One year is too short.
Thanks for stopping by, Joe! I think FIRE is incredibly hard to capture in a 90 minute documentary. It’s highly individualized and the journey is often long. You’re right, a documentary after a year is way too short. Their FIRE journey has just begun. Will it fizzle out? Will it all happen according to plan? Will they have another kid, which might set back their FIRE number and plans? So many unanswered questions. One of the main positives of the movie is introducing FIRE and hopefully getting newcomers to check out finance resources, blogs (like yours!), and other sites to become more financially responsible. Thanks again for stopping by 🙂.
Taylor is on this week’s What’s Up Next podcast. Here’s the link to help complete the picture on what she was and is thinking :
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/48-should-you-pursue-the-fast-path-to-fi/id1440355498?i=1000447215995
Thanks for the link, Jon! I really like the What’s Up Next podcast and I’m looking forward to hearing more insight from Taylor 😀
I am glad to see you wrote this as I scribbled down an outline of my reaction to the film after seeing it with our Choose FI group.. it was good to read from another’s perspective. Thanks!
Hah liked Gasems review. I just watched it and had the same thoughts. Taylor said she wants to spend time with her kid but in one scene she’s busy working in a room hearing her husband play with her kid. I think if I were in her shoes I might feel a little resentful.