Well I viewed 'Fahrenheit 9/11', stopped, composed myself, waited another hour and then decided to write a review. I must admit that watching it is really draining on the emotions so if you have any heart at all you are going to need some tissues near by.
Moore has had a lot of trouble finding the humor in his latest offering. While he can normally make a joke about most things the jokes in 'Fahrenheit 9/11' died in the arse. Unlike 'Bowling for Columbine' and 'Roger and Me' there is no humor here, although Michael did make several attempts.
I remember watching 'Bowling for Columbine' for the first time and laughing out loud followed moments later by fits of crying. Watching 'Fahrenheit 9/11' I was just happy for a few moments when I wasn't crying.
Moore did get a little bogged down in the boring detail in the first half of the film but rightly so. There is no need for a film of this nature that doesn't lay it down on the line for you but if Mike had wanted to make the film light hearted this would have been the place. Instead he looks for jokes in mundane details like countries that are a part of the coalition of the willing but have no army. Sorry Mike but you know having a country just sign its name on the dotted line is all America needs. America doesn't need man power, it needs backers.
Another example of where Mike lost the plot trying to make a joke was again in the coalition of the willing section where he lists the Netherlands as a member but plays them down as being useful to the coalition because they are a nation of pot smokers. Up until this point I assumed that Mike would be on the side of decriminalization and legalisation of drugs. Goes to show that you should never assume with people like Mike.
The second part of the film deals with the war in Iraq. This section is of an extreme graphic nature. If you were for the war but had never been to a war zone I can safely say that after viewing this section that if your still for the war you are a first class drone. Michael was right to show the horrors of war and did so perfectly. Showing content of this nature is he only way to drive home what is really going on in the world.
I should clarify though that when I say extreme graphic nature I don't just mean kids burnt to death or missing limbs or parts of their face. That stuff is in there but there is more. 'Fahrenheit 9/11' was able to capture an American woman's story in two parts. First we meet a woman who comes from a lower class neighborhood who does right by people, works in an employment office and gives jobs to the needy. She has come to realize that the military are the only way for her children to escape the poverty that they are in as the military pays for higher schooling in exchange for service. She has promoted the Army to her kids for most of their life and flys the American flag everyday outside her house.
Mike was able to visit her again but not in good circumstances. When we meet her again she recalls the story about the day she found out her oldest son had died in a Blackhawk crash in Iraq. Just writing about it still brings a tear to my eye. Finally we follow her to Washington where she has finally realized that all her beliefs about her country and her countries leader do not fit with her reality. This is the extreme graphic nature of the film.
I can understand why the American censors gave the film such a harsh rating and I think Mike is bias in wanting it changed. People who want to see the film will see it no matter what the rating. Kids and teenagers can still sneak in or go with an adult, people can still download it online and when the DVD comes out anybody and everybody will have access to it. I think the censors where right to give it an R because anyone who goes to see this expecting a Michael Moore blackly comic masterpiece will leave the theatre too depressed to drive home.
Over all I will see this film again and I think it deserves the attention it is getting. Don't go into this film expecting all the answers, infact don't go into the film expecting any answers. Only fence sitters will be swung by this film, any long term republican voters will shake it off and go back to what they were doing before the start of the film.
While 'Fahrenheit 9/11' doesn't offer anything new, it does put it into a package that is in your face. If I was going to give it a vote out of five I would give it a three and a half.
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