GRADE: B-
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: Muddled but provocative document about President Donald J. Trump (and other issues).
JIM'S REVIEW: Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 11/9 should not be confused with his vastly superior documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, although both of these films' numerical subtext convey iconic days in American history: The latter film chronicles a fateful day when terrorism destroyed many innocent lives and recorded its harrowing aftermath. The former denotes the day when Donald Trump won an upset election and became the 45th President of the United States and its catastrophic aftermath as well. Both films present tragic times. (At this point, I must state my political stance to be fair to any readers...I am, dare I say, a liberal.)
So welcome to Bizarro World, where everything as we know to be sane is completely backwards. Our expectations of what is on display is opposite to the norm. A fact is not a fact. Truth is not truth. And the cries of fake news are rampant. Mr. Moore tries to explain our dilemma in this Trump World in which we now co-exist. And while he remains on target railing against this narcissistic misogynistic tyrant, his film rages on to maximum impact. However, he tends to derail fairly often and veers onto other subjects near and dear to him.
No doubt, this film is leftist propaganda, just as Dinesh D'Souza's recent documentary, Death of a Nation, shows the right wing point-of-view. Which leads to the question: Should a documentarian be more balanced in his filmmaking or does a particular viewpoint create a stronger (or weaker) end product? Should the filmmaker become an active part of the message or stay unseen at the fringe of his/her work of art? What is the purpose of the enterprise: to speak to the masses of supporters and strengthen their positions or to convert those who disagree with their opinions?
There is much polarity and frustration on view but who can unite us? What is our goal?Mr. Moore's intent remains unclear.
Fahrenheit 11/9 simply in in need of better judicious editing. Mr. Moore's exposé goes off on various tangents and never really focuses squarely on his target subject as effectively as he should. Less would have been more. (His areas of concern encompass gun violence, our outdated electoral college, low teacher wages, and once again, the contaminated water issue in his hometown of Flint. Granted, all important issues and informative fodder.) But there is a disconnect here, as he spends valuable screen time off topic and drifts away from The Man Presently in the White House.
The director's epicenter of his film demands to be squarely on The 45th and his personal agenda. There is more than enough material to investigate and report. While this film begins promisingly with that purpose, Mr. Moore glosses over some of Trump's proven characteristics that are in dire need of discussion such as his racist attitude and his infamous mishandling of the Charlottesville riots or his nonchalant treatment of Puerto Rico's hurricane emergency that killed over 3,000 citizens; nor does he delve into his continuous misogynistic comments toward women and his adamant defense of the sexual accused rather than supporting their victims. Never is it even mentioned about Mr. Trump's own bevy of 16 female accusers who purport his sexual aggressive acts...a grievous omission to the story.
However, as a filmmaker, he researches his subject well and provides fact-based footage and powerful interviewees to make his case most compelling. Perhaps, Mr. Moore's most telling segment is his sojourn into fascism. He does a brilliant job using Nazi archival footage with our president's voiceover narration of his actual speeches to convey a comparison of our changing democratic culture with the Third Reich. To him, Hitler and Trump are born dictators eager to take control of their country using history, with all its repeats and patterns, as their outline for success. A very intriguing treatise. (Another riveting section of the documentary that gobsmacked this reviewer explores the little known incident of governmental crimes and misdemeanors in which the U.S. Army literally invade the town of Flint, Michigan and use areas of the city for bombing and target practice maneuvers. Preposterous but factual. )
Yes, Mr. Moore is angry. Angry at everyone, including former President Obama. And passionate to his cause. He firmly believes that our only hope is protesting and casting our personal votes to elect insurgents to fill elective offices. He believes that these young new leftist activists are the primary salvation to fix America's broken political system. But as he argues and sends out the alarm, he also has no real solutions and does not seem to realize that these same individuals can easily become corrupted by capitalism and greed of the office they serve. His idealism tends to cloud his vision and weaken his message. His voice is there, loud and proud, but this time around, his words aren't concise and commanding as one expects them to be.
Fahrenheit 11/9 is overloaded with hot topics. Depending on your own political preference, this film will be the "feel good" or "feel bad" movie of the year. It just left me a bit numb.
THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.
IN BRIEF: Muddled but provocative document about President Donald J. Trump (and other issues).
JIM'S REVIEW: Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 11/9 should not be confused with his vastly superior documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, although both of these films' numerical subtext convey iconic days in American history: The latter film chronicles a fateful day when terrorism destroyed many innocent lives and recorded its harrowing aftermath. The former denotes the day when Donald Trump won an upset election and became the 45th President of the United States and its catastrophic aftermath as well. Both films present tragic times. (At this point, I must state my political stance to be fair to any readers...I am, dare I say, a liberal.)
So welcome to Bizarro World, where everything as we know to be sane is completely backwards. Our expectations of what is on display is opposite to the norm. A fact is not a fact. Truth is not truth. And the cries of fake news are rampant. Mr. Moore tries to explain our dilemma in this Trump World in which we now co-exist. And while he remains on target railing against this narcissistic misogynistic tyrant, his film rages on to maximum impact. However, he tends to derail fairly often and veers onto other subjects near and dear to him.
No doubt, this film is leftist propaganda, just as Dinesh D'Souza's recent documentary, Death of a Nation, shows the right wing point-of-view. Which leads to the question: Should a documentarian be more balanced in his filmmaking or does a particular viewpoint create a stronger (or weaker) end product? Should the filmmaker become an active part of the message or stay unseen at the fringe of his/her work of art? What is the purpose of the enterprise: to speak to the masses of supporters and strengthen their positions or to convert those who disagree with their opinions?
There is much polarity and frustration on view but who can unite us? What is our goal?Mr. Moore's intent remains unclear.
Fahrenheit 11/9 simply in in need of better judicious editing. Mr. Moore's exposé goes off on various tangents and never really focuses squarely on his target subject as effectively as he should. Less would have been more. (His areas of concern encompass gun violence, our outdated electoral college, low teacher wages, and once again, the contaminated water issue in his hometown of Flint. Granted, all important issues and informative fodder.) But there is a disconnect here, as he spends valuable screen time off topic and drifts away from The Man Presently in the White House.
The director's epicenter of his film demands to be squarely on The 45th and his personal agenda. There is more than enough material to investigate and report. While this film begins promisingly with that purpose, Mr. Moore glosses over some of Trump's proven characteristics that are in dire need of discussion such as his racist attitude and his infamous mishandling of the Charlottesville riots or his nonchalant treatment of Puerto Rico's hurricane emergency that killed over 3,000 citizens; nor does he delve into his continuous misogynistic comments toward women and his adamant defense of the sexual accused rather than supporting their victims. Never is it even mentioned about Mr. Trump's own bevy of 16 female accusers who purport his sexual aggressive acts...a grievous omission to the story.
However, as a filmmaker, he researches his subject well and provides fact-based footage and powerful interviewees to make his case most compelling. Perhaps, Mr. Moore's most telling segment is his sojourn into fascism. He does a brilliant job using Nazi archival footage with our president's voiceover narration of his actual speeches to convey a comparison of our changing democratic culture with the Third Reich. To him, Hitler and Trump are born dictators eager to take control of their country using history, with all its repeats and patterns, as their outline for success. A very intriguing treatise. (Another riveting section of the documentary that gobsmacked this reviewer explores the little known incident of governmental crimes and misdemeanors in which the U.S. Army literally invade the town of Flint, Michigan and use areas of the city for bombing and target practice maneuvers. Preposterous but factual. )
Yes, Mr. Moore is angry. Angry at everyone, including former President Obama. And passionate to his cause. He firmly believes that our only hope is protesting and casting our personal votes to elect insurgents to fill elective offices. He believes that these young new leftist activists are the primary salvation to fix America's broken political system. But as he argues and sends out the alarm, he also has no real solutions and does not seem to realize that these same individuals can easily become corrupted by capitalism and greed of the office they serve. His idealism tends to cloud his vision and weaken his message. His voice is there, loud and proud, but this time around, his words aren't concise and commanding as one expects them to be.
Fahrenheit 11/9 is overloaded with hot topics. Depending on your own political preference, this film will be the "feel good" or "feel bad" movie of the year. It just left me a bit numb.