Review

Who better than Michael Moore to handle the most serious of issues with humor and humanity, and communicate complexities with clear, concise vision? The Capraesque documentarian examines the American culture of violence through a pastiche of interviews, conversations, news footage and 911 calls; and presents a collection of statistics that everyone is familiar with, but when presented en masse is profoundly overwhelming. As Moore gets a free gun on opening a checking account and buys ammo in a barber shop, he discusses the atmosphere of violence which has permeated U.S. consciousness from the inception of the country. Wedded to this culture of violence is the culture of fear...fear and consumption, as Marilyn Manson suggests in a thoughtfully considered conversation. In comparison to Manson’s commentary is Charlton Heston’s regurgitation of the NRA party line in an interview he walks out of with relatively little provocation. Bowling... (reportedly, the shooters went bowling the morning of the massacre) shows Littleton as on the surface the embodiment of the American Dream, where “two young men made very bad, very wrong decisions”; yet, under the docile morning-in-America façade, is subject to the same pervasive undercurrents affecting the country as a whole. Moore recounts myriad instances of intrusive force to implement U.S. foreign policy, and asks why Canada -- where our movies are watched and with similar issues of poverty and unemployment and a whole lot of gun owners –- has so few murders by gunshot. The film is brilliant and incendiary, sure to outrage and to incite as much considered discussion as hostile reaction. Academy Award winner for Best Documentary.

 -- Ann Yarabinee