Hot Docs 2007: Manufacturing Dissent
posted August 1, 2008 10:00 AM
Documentary takes a critical look at Sicko helmer Michael Moore
Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore (Sicko, Fahrenheit 9/11, Bowling for Columbine) receives a comprehensive drubbing in this gutsy expose of the much-beloved left-wing icon. The rub for Moore is that these critics hail from his side of the political divide, naive Canadians who set out to make a movie exalting their hero and then, horror of horrors, found out he had feet of clay. Those who've read Harlan Jacobson's 1989 interview in Film Comment magazine, which challenged Moore on the distortions and manipulations of his first feature Roger & Me, have always known he was a shady character, and it's apropos to ask why directors Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine were so unaware of this fact.
Nevertheless, they've made up for their blind spot by composing this fair portrait—Moore's supporters, such as actress and former radio personality Janeane Garofalo and Helga Stephenson, former head of the Toronto International Film Festival, which first launched Moore upon the cinematic stratosphere, have their say in his defense. It's also a wide-ranging and convincing film, smartly linking Moore's questionable filmmaking practices with his cavalier and self-serving off-screen treatment of allies, such as old union buddies in Michigan and presidential candidate Ralph Nader, and, finally, with his monumental ego and celebrity, which Melnyk and Caine maintain divert attention from the causes Moore is supposed to care so passionately about.
Less successful are their attempts to interview Moore—a la Roger & Me—by crashing his appearances during his 2004 Slacker Uprising Tour, which was supposed to get out the youth vote to help topple President Bush. Granted, the filmmakers' tactics reveal Moore to be as disingenuous as anybody he's ever pursued for a story, but they're still stooping to his level and pandering to their audience. And though much of what's in the film isn't new information, seeing it all compiled in one place and building to its damning argument against Moore is effective and disturbing. It remains to be seen if Moore's friends and allies are willing to have their eyes opened to that uncomfortable reality. Distributor: No distributor set
Directors/Screenwriters/Producers: Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not yet rated
Running time: 96 min.
Release date: TBD
Nevertheless, they've made up for their blind spot by composing this fair portrait—Moore's supporters, such as actress and former radio personality Janeane Garofalo and Helga Stephenson, former head of the Toronto International Film Festival, which first launched Moore upon the cinematic stratosphere, have their say in his defense. It's also a wide-ranging and convincing film, smartly linking Moore's questionable filmmaking practices with his cavalier and self-serving off-screen treatment of allies, such as old union buddies in Michigan and presidential candidate Ralph Nader, and, finally, with his monumental ego and celebrity, which Melnyk and Caine maintain divert attention from the causes Moore is supposed to care so passionately about.
Less successful are their attempts to interview Moore—a la Roger & Me—by crashing his appearances during his 2004 Slacker Uprising Tour, which was supposed to get out the youth vote to help topple President Bush. Granted, the filmmakers' tactics reveal Moore to be as disingenuous as anybody he's ever pursued for a story, but they're still stooping to his level and pandering to their audience. And though much of what's in the film isn't new information, seeing it all compiled in one place and building to its damning argument against Moore is effective and disturbing. It remains to be seen if Moore's friends and allies are willing to have their eyes opened to that uncomfortable reality. Distributor: No distributor set
Directors/Screenwriters/Producers: Debbie Melnyk and Rick Caine
Genre: Documentary
Rating: Not yet rated
Running time: 96 min.
Release date: TBD
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