I really don't care to comment on Michael Moore's latest effort, as plenty of pixels have already been devoted elsewhere to that subject, but Denver Post film critic Lisa Kennedy's review deserves some attention. She finds some aspects of the film wanting, but I get the feeling she would give it an 'A' for effort...
The families the president values, "Fahrenheit 9/11" argues, are those with whom the Bush family has had long and complex business dealings. How else to explain the disquieting fact that a number of Saudi nationals (including members of the bin Laden family) were allowed to leave the U.S. in the immediate aftermath of the attacks of Sept. 11?
Certainly, the movie is anti-Bush. The filmmaker from Flint, Mich., has been a class warrior from the start.
I can believe that Moore would see himself as a class warrior, but does anyone really think the '04 election has something to do with a class struggle, or that labeling Bush as an aristocrat will be effective as he runs against Kerry?
Kennedy:
Moore, like the administration he critiques, does not always encourage views other than his own.
In this regard, "Fahrenheit 9/11" is not unlike another recent American film. It, too, was released into a swirl of controversy, though the hand-wringing over "Fahrenheit" wasn't nearly as prolonged as that over Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."
"Fahrenheit 9/11" also sets out to proselytize. It, too, intends to convert, though it is more likely to act as a balm to true believers.
Each movie is the forceful expression of its director's deeply felt beliefs. Each uses film's powerful language to persuade, to insist upon its version of truth.
Avid fans of both films will reel at that assertion, but the rest of us can be more detached about the power and failings of films.
As a fan of neither film, I'm reeling too. Does Kennedy mean to say Moore's film is the product of religious devotion?
Posted by Walter at June 25, 2004 10:58 PMNot overly important, but the Denerstein review from the Rocky seemed to be the most balanced and reasonable review of the movie that I've read.
Anyone who knows me will also know how I feel about Moore and how I feel about his movies, but there is no way to fail to be impressed by his abilities at self-promotion and in pushing forward his agenda. Hell, to tell the truth, I wish I had those same skills and all the attendant benefits.
Posted by: zombyboy at June 27, 2004 10:35 PMPeople seem to conveniently forget that it was Richard Clark, on his own authority, who let the Saudi's go post 9/11.
Posted by: Tom at June 28, 2004 09:48 AM