Michael Moore

At this point in our relationship, Michael Moore's documentaries and I have reached an impasse.

I want Moore to make movies that figure out ways to get those who hate him, or don't trust him, to think twice about what he's going on about.

Moore, on the other hand, isn't concerned with persuading his opponents of anything beyond their own opposition to Michael Moore.

Moore's latest and broadest effort to date is "Capitalism: A Love Story."

At its best, this uneven work represents Moore at the peak of his argumentative skills. Roughly a third of its anecdotal and illustrative footage hinges on precise, telling details, strong enough to support Moore's wider indictments of the Western world's preferred way to make a buck and treat its citizenry.

When, for example, the film lays out the concept of "dead peasant" insurance policies, by which some employers reap millions from the premature demise of their workers, you feel the impact of both the content and the presentation. Elsewhere, Moore nails a remarkable example of privatization run amok, chronicling the story of a Pennsylvania juvenile detention center whose success relied on force-feeding the institution with as many kids as a local judge could sentence and get away with it.

Moore's film -- a bookend in some respects to his 1989 breakthrough, the first-person provocation "Roger & Me" -- takes those vignettes, throws in a harried, third-act explanation of last fall's federal bailout and culminates with a conclusion that American capitalism has become "evil" and must be replaced with ... something else.

Now, you can agree with this or not. You can agree with Moore's assertion that last year's banking bailout was an inside job, patched together by Wall Street insiders working in Washington, or not. (Actually, I'm not sure you can argue that one.) You can buy Moore's trademark singsong-y voice-overs ("the only thing we didn't know was when the revolt would begin"), or not.

Or you can buy some of it, a lot of it, up to a point.

An introduction setting up parallels between the fall of ancient Rome and the fall of Bush II settles for easy laughs. And while it's amusing to watch Moore on camera plaster the entrance to the New York Stock Exchange with crime-scene tape, when Moore goes through his customary security-guard harassment in another segment, it's hard not to think: Here we go again.

On the other hand: It is the right time to be dealing with these questions.

Who else has Moore's platform, his devotion to the vanishing middle class? Among American filmmakers, he is among the most necessary mixed blessings we have.

 

"Capitalism: A Love Story" Movie Trailer

Michael Moore's next film explores the root causes of the global economic meltdown and takes a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what Moore has described as the biggest robbery in the history of this country the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions.Michael Moore, New Movie, Corporation, Government Bail Out, AIG, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Documentary, Political, Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Roger and Me

 

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MPAA rating: R (for some language).

Running time: 2:06.

Featuring: Michael Moore.

Written and directed by Michael Moore; produced by Michael Moore and Anne Moore. An Overture Films release.

 

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