In 2009, Leslie Cockburn directed and co-produced (with husband Andrew Cockburn) her first feature documentary for theatrical release. American Casino relates the story of the origins, progress and consequences of the subprime mortgage disaster that led to the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Beginning filming in January 2008, Cockburn laid bare both the financial machinations and miscalculations on Wall Street that produced the disaster as well as its effects on an array of Baltimore homeowners struggling to stay afloat. The film premiered at New York's Tribeca Film Festival in April 2009.
Variety described it as a " searing expose of the subprime mortgage crisis (matching) Wall Street's numbers and graphics to the flesh-and-blood individuals whose lives have been devastated by the deliberate machinations of bankers and traders."
Slant magazine called it a "revelatory howl against the still-gestating, $8 trillion-and-counting financial-services industry bailout."
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said “American Casino is a powerful and shocking look at the subprime lending scandal. If you want to understand how the US financial system failed and how mortgage companies ripped off the poor, see this film.”
In its review of the film, The New York Times noted that it "does not leave you assured the worst is over.... The lesson of this story: If enough money is involved, greed trumps morality."
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