The story of a crooked family swindling their way to the top of the Pennsylvania polka scene, this documentary is fascinating, especially given the refusal of Jan Lewan and his family to admit wrongdoing of any kind. It's hard to feel sorry for people who swindled millions, when they try to blame the people who they swindled for their woes.

AFTER MY COMMENTS WERE CENSORED ABOUT THE MOCKUMENTARY I RETURNED TO ATTEMPT TO LEAVE A MORE SUCCINCT COMMENT:I wrote some things the rest of the nation might be interested in knowing...once again one of the INTERNET moguls (hulu/facebook) has censored my words so I'm back to merely say...America, we are in trouble by a much larger looter. Think about this present form of government here....you want looter stories? Why doesn't the media ever tell us the whole truth *(think corporate).
BOTH OF THE AFOREMENTIONED WERE CENSORED AND NOT ONE PERSON WAS ALLOWED TO READ AND PONDER MY WORDS....CONVENIENTLY.

it plays like a mockumentary without ANY of the laughs. i guess it is a real story. a reeeal boring story which could be told in 15min if it weren't for the cheesy narration, dramatic music, and pointless speculative interviews with octogenarians. some laughs at the seriousness with which these folks talk about the guy as if he were a rock star....but not nearly enough to merit enduring the entire production.

Hey,
In all honesty, I tuned into this on hulu.com as a goof. Needed some
frivolous divertissement and figured "what can be goofier than a polka
band?" Instead, I watched a local tragedy of sorts that involves a
rigged Mrs Pennsylvania beauty contest, a crash of a tour bus in
Florida and the destruction of an individual who may or may not have
it coming.
The best stories to me aren't the epics of kings and presidents but of
usual lives in difficult situations and this documentary focuses on a
Polish immigrant who makes his name in the polka community of
Pennsylvania and then branches out. Once nominated for a Grammy in the
now defunct Best Polka Album in 1995, Jan Lewan would get involved in
selling promissory notes with interest returns not unlike Bernie
Medoff. The story doesn't end well and it's a fascinating look at a
slice of life most of us have no experience with and probably even
less interest in.
The American Dream gone bad, I suppose. It's a low-budget documentary
and, frankly, the home-made aspect of the film adds to the charm of
this bizarre story. At just over an hour, it makes its point without
wasting one's time.
William

Yeah, a real Bernie Madoff.... Hardly. Wake up. A lot of these people had a great time... a fine example of "when the music stops...". Show me a scene of this guy living in extravagance under negligent use of investor funds? Show me?This guy took the risk to make a move and develop wealth. None of these investors have the guts or b*lls to do the work themselves and as one man says... "they are cry babies" I'll add to that, sniveling coward crybabies hiding behind denial of their own actions. It's called risk you gullible people.Is there a single person in this thing who understands market economics and financing principles????? Check the intentions of the producers. Personal beef perhaps? Where are factual records with financial information? It's not what you know, it's what you can prove. And this production proves nothing."...was using illegal investments to stay afloat." What a joke statement. This happens every day in every sector in every country and is hardly illegal. The guy can give returns in whatever % he wants. This is not illegal. What did you get for the last ten years of your home investment????? Any dancing going on there? Hardly. Your speculation of market sustainability is where right now?It is poor ethics perhaps but defaulting on promissory notes is part of the economic system... it's called risk assessment and credit worthiness.Ponzi scheme? Perhaps... but what the h*ll do you think social security and insurance is???? This is a neighborhood wide case hardly effecting anything beyond a few small bank accounts.The investors invested. This is the point, they took a risk. Wake up.Classic American individual voice. All these victims... few of who took the due diligence to take personal responsibility and protect themselves."He knew what he was doing..." Of course, so does every bank and every business. It's called leverage."He could sell an Eskimo and igloo." Uhh, lady, Eskimos need igloos. "They wanted to make a buck." There is the whole thing. Have you looked at the news lately or, perhaps in the past three hundred years?

Really enjoyed this, except for the fake narrator whose fake accent pulled me out of the film every time he spoke. Did the director intend for him to sound as if he was from the Poconos? It didn't sound close to a NE PA accent -- it sounded like a fake New York accent Hollywood types use whenever they try to play East Coast roles.It doesn't ruin the documentary, but it turns what could have been a great doc into merely a good doc.

Wow! Corruption in this whole situation is mind-boggling.
http://articles.latimes.com/1998/aug/20/news/mn-14962Looks like Jan & his hard-as-nails wife sing SOPRANO, too.