In addition to being a social issue documentary, Inequality for All is also partially a biopic regarding Reich's early life and his time as Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton's presidency.

Warren Buffett and Nick Hanauer, two entrepreneurs and investors in the top 1%, are interviewed in the film, supporting Reich's belief in an economy that benefits all citizens, including those of the middle and lower classes.

As shown via a series of suspension bridge graphs, the income gap between middle-to-low-class Americans and the top 1% in the United States was at the same extreme highs in 1928 and 2007, two years that preceded economic crashes.

Reich argues that inequality in capitalism is a necessary incentive for citizens to work harder, but at a low-enough level to where democracy is protected and it's in a "Virtuous cycle;" with high-enough wages and taxes, there will be more investments in government programs, a more college-educated population, and consumer spending creating more jobs.

Robert Reich, author, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, official in three administrations, including United States Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, narrates Inequality for All.

[18] With his only knowledge of the American economy from conflicting mainstream media news stories, Kornbluth found himself to be the right learner of ideas from an expert in economics like Reich.

"[16] Inequality for All was first announced in a Deadline article published on January 26, 2012, its premise summarized as a "film about former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich's efforts to call national attention to the nation's gaping economic inequality"; director Kornbluth, cinematographer Svetlana Cvetko, editor Kim Roberts, producers Sebastian Dungan and Jen Chaiken, and production company 72 Productions were revealed to be working on the project.

[12] Upon the theatrical release, Reich discussed themes of Inequality for All via interviews on shows such as Marketplace,[34] PBS NewsHour,[35] CBS MoneyWatch,[36] Democracy Now!,[37] and Moyers & Company;[38] and publications such as i am Rogue[39] Collider,[18] OpEdNews,[40] AARP,[41] Time,[42] and The Nation.

[18] CNN also cited stats from the film in an October 2013 report about East Carroll Parish, Louisiana, which had the highest income inequality of all areas in the United States.

[47] Reaching the million-dollar mark in its fifth week,[48] a rare feat for a documentary at the time;[49] Inequality for All ended up being the tenth highest-grossing motion picture from the 2013 Sundance Festival with a domestic gross totaling around $1.2 million.

[51] Carole Cadwalladr of The Guardian labeled the film "a really astonishingly good movie that takes some big economic ideas and how these relate to the quality of everyday life as lived by most ordinary people.

[9][61] Marc Mohan of The Oregonian opined, "He has the gift of explaining complex ideas simply without dumbing them down, and the ability to firmly argue his point without becoming angry, strident or didactic.

"[63] They also enjoyed Reich's narrative as a sound and uplifting take on an otherwise dour subject,[64][11] avoiding the extremely negative tones that usually drove other documentaries of serious topics.

[65][66] The Los Angeles Times also highlighted the filmmaking craft, explaining that "Kornbluth, for his part, employs his skills as a dramatic feature director [...] to bring energy and vigor to the way this film is structured, making especially good use of lively animation and vivid charts.

"[67] As Corey Hall of Metro Times stated, "It helps that Reich himself is such an irresistible ball of charisma, endlessly engaging, whether enchanting his econ students at UC Berkeley or doing a buddy cop parody with Conan O’Brien.

"[68] "Reich is disarmingly likeable, with a penchant for self-deprecating jokes about being short [...] while burrowing into his subject with the rigour of a scholar," summarized Toronto Star critic Bruce DeMara.

"[7] In the opinion of Slant Magazine writer Kalvin Henely, "Reich’s sleek presentation—his neat rhetoric and clean, simplified graphics that lucidly explain his ideas, along with a sense of humor about his diminutive height—makes him an effective, affable spokesman for the middle class.

[3] Hall similarly dismissed the salesman essence of the film: "This is a curious case of liking the messenger, loving the message and yet still feeling as if you’re being too heavily sold, even if you want to by [sic] into the product.

"[68] Kurtzleben also thought the middle-class family interviews, while necessary, caused pacing problems, as they were slower than segments showcasing statistics and historical points at a faster rate.

[14] A couple of fingers were also pointed at the segment discussing Reich's time as Secretary of Labor; RedEye reviewer Matt Pais found it a distraction from the main subject,[72] while Andrew Barker of Variety noticed that he "doesn’t mention Clinton’s substantial role in furthering the financial deregulation trends that would come back to bite the world economy in the ass a decade later.

[8][13][15][75] While Mohan approved the script's non-partisan nature in not blaming a specific side,[13] Kurtzleben and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Duane Dudek suggested this didn't do much as Reich's arguments leaned liberal and would turn off conservative viewers and those who thought the economy's problems have nothing to do with inequality.

[79] Greg Beato, in an article about the rise of crowdfunded political causes published on the libertarian magazine Reason, found it ironic that Inequality for All, a motion picture criticizing the decreased power and opportunity of the middle class, was funded with Kickstarter, one of many "radically democratic platforms of alternative finance" on the internet.

"[81] The Daily Herald was more appreciative of only left-leaning viewpoints being portrayed: "A real journalistic approach to Reich's warnings of financial doom would destroy this doc's marketable good will -- and probably confuse viewers with too many voices.