As usual, another Michael Moore movie appears accompanied by a bunch of mean-spirited reviews which claim to applaud the topic, while criticizing the method. Of course, the fact that only Moore is capable of making documentaries that anyone beyond the PBS crowd watches is deemed irrelevant. Moore actually wants to change the world instead of just interpreting it, which requires a different approach to documentary-making, but, hey, let’s poke fun at the shambling fat man.
Capitalism is Moore’s best film; it’s the film he has been working towards since Roger and Me. And while it doesn’t have the shock value of Fahrenheit 911 (which was the first mainstream challenge to the consensus on Iraq), it is superb, managing to be alternately powerful, compassionate, funny and inspiring, sometimes all at the same time. There are very few of the cheap theatrics which he occasionally resorts to, and there were countless scenes that brought tears to my eyes.
The first hour parades a series of case studies of what’s wrong with capitalism, including companies taking out life insurance policies on their employees, and the appalling pay for commercial pilots. Then we get half an hour on the financial crisis. This seems the least original, because we have seen lots of versions of the story, but even here there is interesting material concerning the way Congress got railroaded into the bailout bill (my local Representative, Marcy Kaptur, is a very powerful, and angry, source for Moore). The last half hour is quite unusual for Moore. It involves people fighting back. Stories of resistance. All of it ending in an astonishing piece of footage of FDR delivering his last State of the Union speech and calling for a “second economic bill of rights.â€
It is not perfect, and Moore lets Obama off much too easily (Moore will probably claim the movie was competed before the more recent capitulations to the financial health insurance industries), but for a documentary playing at almost all the movieplexes in the country, it is pretty damn good.
Re: Moore letting Obama off the hook. Saw Moore on Chris Matthews (I think?) and I don’t think he’ll say that his treatment of Obama was before the recent capitulations. He’s still defending him. When asked if Obama has lost his spine, he said he genuinely likes the president, and that he thinks he’s just too nice and believes too much in the idea that people are basically good and naturally inclined to cooperate.
Yes, yes, but what about Surrogates?
I kid. You make me want to see this. I’ve seen almost nothing at the theaters, but suddenly a few things demand attention.
Zombieland comes before Surrogates.
thanks for the review, chris. i confess i am one of those who has grown tired of moore’s style (though i did like sicko a lot more than bowling for columbine. now, how about taking the pandorum bullet for the team?
Matt Taibbi on Moore: http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/2009/10/06/michael-moores-problems-are-our-fault/