Common Sense Note
Know your kids before you go on this one. This is a movie we recommend seeing with them. Some viewers will be offended by Moore's anti-Bush message. Others will love it. Moore has a very definite point of view and has created an emotionally powerful movie. Either way, discussing this with your kids is very important if you let them go. War violence is shown, there's strong language, and you see extremely upsetting images such as a mutilated baby and a beheading in the distance, so we do not recommend it for young teens. This film is designed to provoke strong feelings, so whether or not you agree with Moore's point of view, know that you might want to discuss with your family how he selects material and builds his argument. This film is a strong jumping off point for families to discuss Iraq, the presidential election, and to listen to your kids as they develop their political beliefs.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Nell Minow
This is the movie that won the movie world's highest accolade, a sort of Global Oscar, the Cannes Film Festival's Palme D'Or. This is also the movie that columnist Christopher Hitchens called "a sinister exercise in moral frivolity, crudely disguised as an exercise in seriousness. It is also a spectacle of abject political cowardice masking itself as a demonstration of 'dissenting' bravery." It is a furious and unabashedly partisan challenge both to the current administration and to all who accept what they are told about anything without questioning.
Moore specializes in documentaries that are more like op-eds than like news stories. He uses the technique of film-making to take a stand and he likes to stir things up. One of the advertising taglines for this movie is, "Controversy...What Controversy?" In his previous films, he took on General Motors and the gun industry. This time, he takes on the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.
He makes the following charges:
George W. Bush stole the 2000 election with the help of his brother, the Governor of Florida, and "Daddy's friends on the Supreme Court.
In his first eight months in office, he spent 42% of his time on vacation.
President Bush is not very smart or effective, especially in his response to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
His ties to the Saudis have influenced his decisions and compromised his ability to act in the best interests of the American people.
Rich old white people are sending poor young minority soldiers to fight and die in Iraq for a war that is killing civilians and is more for the benefit of American corporate interests than national security or Iraqi freedom.
He makes these points with an avalanche of facts, wisecracks, cheap shots, less cheap but still mighty inexpensive shots, and often-snarky, sometimes-outraged commentary. He presents a fact like the vacation statistic cited above, then amplifies it with sitcomish music and juxtaposes footage that makes the President and the members of his administration appear foolish or ineffective.
Okay, anyone looks foolish being powdered by a make-up artist. (For more evidence on this, see another documentary, called Feed.) And there are other clips that are unfair enough to make the movie less powerful. Some of it is wickedly enjoyable, but some of it is clutter and some undercuts the power of the points Moore is trying to make.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz has better moments than the one shown, sticking a comb in his mouth to help make his hair stay in place, and Attorney General John Ashcroft may not be a good singer but that's not what we pay him for. Presidents get asked questions about all subjects no matter what they are doing, so when President Bush speaks of the importance of stopping terrorism while he's on the golf course, the implication that he is a modern-day Nero is overblown. Moore makes much of the President's staying on in a classroom visit for seven long minutes after being told that America was under attack, speculating about what he was thinking. Does it really matter what kind of linen he slept on the night before?
Then there are moments that may be manipulative, but are nevertheless unassailably genuine. A visit with the mother of a soldier who was killed in Iraq is moving not just for her loss but for her devotion and her ideals. Glimpses of terribly wounded soldiers on both sides and Iraqi civilians are shocking, as they should be. Seeing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld explaining the "humanity" of our surgical strikes and President Bush hoping that our captured soldiers will be treated as humanely as we treat the Iraqi prisoners is chilling, as it should be. A shot of flag-draped coffins is all the more powerful because it is an image suppressed by the Bush administration.
Then there are Moore's trademarks -- making fun of dumb bureaucrats and hypocrites. We meet Congressmen who duck when asked if their children will enlist to fight in the war they voted for and a sweet little group of Fresno peaceniks who were infiltrated by a federal agent. Much of the material about the administration and the war is already well-known to people who follow the news carefully. But assembled as a dossier of complex inter-relationships, conflicts of interest, ignorance, thuggishness, it is a devastating attack.
Some viewers will be offended. Others will take it as an opportunity to consider the way that other media sources tell the story. It is a powerful film that should be seen and responded to. We will not know for a generation or more whether it was right for the US to invade Iraq. That is the way of history. But arguments like those posed in this movie will not just help us think carefully about the topics it covers, but also about how we gather and respond to the information we need to make decisions about how to proceed.
Parents should know that this movie includes war violence with very explicit footage of wounded soldiers and civilians. We see a beheading (from a distance). There is brief very strong language. A strength of the movie is its portrayal of a very loving and devoted inter-racial family.
Families who see this movie could talk about how Moore uses cinematic techniques like music and the juxtaposition of film footage to underscore his points.
Families who enjoy this film may also enjoy Moore's other documentaries, Roger and Me and the Oscar-winning Bowling for Columbine. They may also appreciate Control Room, about the way that the Arab news network, Al-Jazeera, covers the war in Iraq and about the larger issue of bias in reporting.
Rate It!
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ViolenceWar violence, including very explicit footage of wounded soldiers and civilians, including a mutilated baby. |
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LanguageSome very strong language. |
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Social BehaviorPortrayal of a very loving and devoted inter-racial family. |
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